


In Your Arms

by moviegeek03



Series: In Your Arms Verse [1]
Category: Love Victor (TV 2020)
Genre: Angst, Assault, Homophobia, Hospitals, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 19:34:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 21,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25321741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moviegeek03/pseuds/moviegeek03
Summary: Victor dreaded a weekend with his father. A long weekend with his mother and siblings out of town. Just him and his father. He expected the worst. Yet nothing could have prepared him for a call from Benji, in need of help following an attack at work. With his boyfriend in need...things will change with him and his father. (Post Season 1 Finale)
Relationships: Benjamin "Benji" Campbell/Victor Salazar
Series: In Your Arms Verse [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880989
Comments: 74
Kudos: 234





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first time writing for the Love Simon/Victor universe, and first time writing in awhile. I originally saw this as a one shot but it kind of got away from me. I think this will likely be 2-4 chapters in all.

Victor sighed. He looked at his phone, wishing he would get a text. Any text. A text that said he had to work tonight, despite only leaving a few hours ago. A test that there was a last minute basketball practice, even though the season had ended.Hell, one from Felix needing help his weird DJ hobby. Anything that would get him out of a long weekend with his dad.

“Dad will be here soon to pick you up,” Isabel stated softly, coming into the kitchen where Victor sat.

“’K,” Victor huffed.

“Mijo…”

“it’s fine,” he responded too quick. “I know.”

“Mi amor,” Isabel started, “I know it’s been hard with your dad lately. But I think he’s trying.”

Victor did his best not to roll his eyes. He was less certain of his dad’s so called trying. In the month and a half since he came out, his dad had largely been silent and absent. He had officially moved the smaller “manager’s” apartment on the first floor of the building, keeping his job as manager and staying nearby for the family. Well, most of the family. It seemed like he was there for Pilar and Adrian, but not Victor. Not Victor who had a new boyfriend and new life. No, that didn’t seem to jive just yet.

“Whatever you say,” Victor sighed, laying his head down on the table. His phone pinged in his hand as his mother continued to give him a sad look. He ignored her and opened his newest text.

_Good luck tonight. – B_

Victor smiled softly.

_Thanks…wish I was still at work with you. Are you sure you can handle closing alone? – V_

“Speaking of amor…” Isabel swatted at his arm in a teasing gesture. “Benji?”

“Maybe…” Victor smiled at his phone, giving himself away. Isabel had done, well, better than he expected. She wasn’t perfect, far from it in fact. There had been lots of tears and questions, but she wasn’t rejecting him. She had allowed Benji over, cooked for him, opened up their home. She wasn’t hiding. She hadn’t run away. Not like his father…

“What’s he up to this weekend?” Isabel asked.

“Working, mostly. He is supposed to close for Sarah tonight and is covering my shifts. His parents are out of town.”

“He’s working so you can spend time with your father?”

_Oh the irony of that,_ Victor thought. He bit his tongue though. “Yeah. He is.”

Isabel squeezed his arm. “I’m glad. Just…give it a shot. It may be better than you think. You two haven’t really had a father-son weekend since he moved downstairs.”

“Not my fault,” Victor snapped.

“I know, love. I didn’t say that. But,” Isabel ran a hand down his back, “this time is different. It will just be you two. I won’t be just in the other room. Or just upstairs. I won’t be in town. No distractions.”

Victor couldn’t help but roll his eyes. “Like that will matter.”

“He won’t have me or your siblings this time to focus on. Just you, baby. Just you.” She kissed his forehead.

_I can handle it, Vic. But I’m sorry you aren’t working tonight :(. Ready to have the weekend with your dad? – B_

Victor sighed again. _Not really._

_I’m a text away if you need. I can’t exactly come pick you up, but can figure out something if you need. I’ll be at work til 10 then walking home. The parents made it to Florida so have he house to myself if you need somewhere to go later.– B_

Victor groaned internally. _Yeah I’d much rather be at your place tonight, but don’t see that happening. Mom is determined Dad and I have a ‘boys’ weekend while she takes Pilar and Adrian out of town. She thinks we need it or something. – V_

“Lover boy texting,” Pilar greeted, rolling her eyes but smiling a little nonetheless.

“Why…jealous?” Victor teased in return.

“Um, no, but tell him that if he wants me to audition for his band he needs to actually respond to me.”

“He’s working,” Victor explained.

“Doesn’t seem to be stopping him from texting you, now does it.” Pilar dropped her overnight bag on the kitchen floor so she could grab a Coke from the fridge. “Just, tell him I’m maybe interested.”

“What does that even mean?” Victor huffed.

“Interested in what?” Isabel interjected.

“Oh, um, well Benji offered me a spot in his band. You know, if I wanted it,” Pilar explained nonchalantly.

“Really?” Isabel exclaimed, not hiding her excitement well.

“He lost a few members when he broke up with Derek,” Victor added. “So he was looking for someone to be on keyboard and guitar. I think He has a guitar lead, but he offered keyboard to her.”

“Oh my God!” Isabel looked at her daughter with a look of pure happiness. “That’s wonderful!”

“Don’t bet on it,” Pilar sighed. “I haven’t auditioned.”

“He’ll love you!” Isabel assured.

Victor shook his head as his mother and sister bantered back and forth.

_Pilar wants you to set up her audition when she gets back. Mom is hassling her now.- V_

_Should I be worried? – B_

_No…she is just happy Pilar is finding a new hobby that doesn’t involve additional piercings or ‘devil music.’ – V_

_She hasn’t heard our music yet…how does she know we aren’t this so called ‘devil’s music’ – B_

_Well…she has met you so think that helps. – V_

The doorbell suddenly rang, bringing Victor back to his kitchen. Pilar jumped up to get it. Victor slumped down in his chair.

“Give him a chance,” his mother encouraged. She walked to the living room to greet Armando. “Hey.” She gave him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hey,” Armando replied. He looked his wife up and down, giving her a sad smile. “Um, you guys ready to head out?”

“Yeah.” Isabel pushed a strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, Molly is expecting us by dinner I think. So we are going to hit the rode soon.”

“I’m glad you guys are going to visit your friend.” Armando forced a smile.

“Well, Pilar will like going shopping in Augusta. And Adrian always got along with Molly’s kids when we all lived in Texas. So I think it will be a good trip.” She took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “And gives you some time with Victor.” She gave him a pointed look.

_Dad’s here. – V_

_You got this <3 – B_

Victor put his phone away, trying to pretend he hadn’t seen the look pass between his parents. “Hey, “ he greeted, coming into the living room and leaning against the doorframe.

“Hey mjio,” Armando said with what Victor felt was a forced smile. “You ready?”

“I guess. Just need to grab my bag.”

“Great.” Armando shoved his hands in his jean pockets. “I thought maybe we’d drop your stuff at mine then go out for food.”

“Whatever.” Victor shrugged. He moved past his family, feeling all their eyes on him. He shut his bedroom door behind him as he gathered his things. His phone pinged again. He took it out once more, smiling sadly at the message.

_Hey Vic. I know you were not looking forward to this weekend. Just remember we are all here if you need to talk. Bram said he has plenty of experience with dad’s trying to figure it out, and is happy to talk any time. Day or night. I’m here too. Though my dad was more bumbling than difficult…_

_Anyway, we are all thinking of you!_

_Love,_

_Simon_

A knock on the door pulled him out of his thoughts. He turned to see his mom. “Yeah?”

“Just wanted to say goodbye before we headed out.”

“Oh.”

She crossed the room and pulled him into her arms. “Love you, Victor. I’m a call away if you need me.”

“Love you too.” He hugged her back, feeling the emotions clog his throat. He cursed himself, not understanding why he was that upset. He’d spent time with his dad since he came out. Sort of. He knew what to expect. So why did this feel so different…

“I’ll text you when we get to Augusta.” She kissed his forehead and smoothed his hair back. “You will have to invite Benji over next week. I know you’d rather be spending the weekend with him.”

He just nodded, not trusting his voice.

“Call if you need us.” She squeezed his shoulder and slowly backed out of the room. He sat back on his bed. He could hear his family move about the living room. His sister whined at the idea of the car trip. Adrian spoke a mile a minute to their father. Victor just sat there, feeling like the outsider all the more.

The hushed goodbyes filtered under his door. Soon enough, he heard his mother and siblings leaving with banging bags and more goodbyes to Armando. Victor sighed, knowing he would have to leave his room soon enough. Armando expected him. Supposedly. He gathered a few more t-shirts and a hoodie. He stuffed it all in his duffle bag. He slid his laptop and headphones into his backpack. He took one last look at his phone, one last look at the photo of Benji on his lockscreen. He had taken it one evening at the coffee shop when they were cleaning up. When Benji had grabbed his guitar and was goofing off while Sarah cleaned.

He didn’t want to go to his dad’s. But he would. He would try.

“Ready, Victor?” Armando stood in the door to his room. He looked anxious, something Victor hadn’t expected.

“Yeah. Mostly.”

Armando nodded. “Ok. I’ll, um, I’ll wait out here for you.”

Victor sent a forced smile and turned back to packing. He slung his bags on his shoulder and walked to the living room. His dad was on the couch, knee bouncing and his face unreadable. “Um, I got everything.”

“Oh. Great. Okay. Um...” Armando ran a hand over his head. “How about we drop those off downstairs and go for food.”

“Sure,” Victor shrugged.

He followed his dad out of the apartment and downstairs to the smaller apartment his dad had taken up residence in since his parents’ recent separation. The apartment had a spare bedroom. The kids hadn’t all stayed at their dad’s at once. Usually Pilar would run down to his place after fights with their mother. Or Adrian would declare he was off on an adventure and run off to play in the new place. But Victor, he’d barely been in the new apartment.

“Toss those in your room if you’d like.” Armando looked awkward in the new space himself. He had put up a few photos of the kids. All three of them. He had a couch and few pieces of furniture scattered throughout the space, likely what had come with the apartment and maybe the local Target. Nothing major but enough to get by. He still spent a lot of time at their—well his mother’s—apartment.

“Okay,” Victor sighed and walked to “his” room. He set his bags down and looked around. Pilar had hung a few band posters up in the shared space and there was a comfortably large bed in the center of the room. A fairly empty desk sat across from it. A few of Adrian’s drawing were littered on it. But as far as Victor’s stuff…the room held nothing of his.

He tried to push those thoughts from his mind and move forward. He had told his mother he would try after all. He just didn’t know if he dad truly would. He shook his head and walked back to the living room. “So, dinner?”

“Yeah,” Armando shifted on his feet. “I thought maybe pizza down the street? The game should be playing. Have some slices and watch some ball?”

“Whatever,” Victor shrugged. His phone vibrated in his pocket.

_< img> How’s it going? - B_

Victor smiled at the attached picture. Benji was giving the camera a cheesy grin in the selfie. He could see Sarah in the background with her eyes mid roll at him.

“Are you going to be on that thing all night?” Armando prodded.

There was no malice in the words, but they annoyed Victor nonetheless. “You never cared when I texted Mia.”

Armando stiffened. “I didn’t —I just haven’t gotten to see you in awhile and would like to actually, you know, talk.”

Victor bit his lip and nodded. “Just…let me respond and we can go get food.”

Armando nodded.

_It’s…going…he wants to talk. But also wants to go out somewhere that will have a game on in the background. So… - V_

Benji quickly responded with a sad emoji. Victor put his phone in his pocket and walked toward the door. “You said pizza?”

“Yeah, um, that place we went always ordered from is good. You know, the one down the road.”

Victor nodded and silently walked out of the apartment. He didn’t catch the sad look on his father’s face as he locked up and followed behind. He instead focused on walking forward and ignoring his father as much as possible. He didn’t love it. But it would work.

Dinner continued to be an awkward affair. They sat in silence with abrupt starts and stops to conversation. Armando asked about basketball and commented on the game. Victor gave one word answers. They ordered a pizza to split; Victor ate quickly, wanting the night to be over and to sit in his room. At least there he could text Benji…or maybe sneak a call.

“So…” Armando cleared his throat. “How are things, with, you know…?”

Victor lifted his eyebrow in question. “With…”

“Your, um, person.”

“You mean boyfriend,” he sighed. He didn’t say it loudly. He still worried about how others would react. He still worried about a lot of it. But he could say it. He was getting better.

“Yeah, that.” Armando ran a hand through his hair.

“You can’t even say it,” Victor leaned back in his chair with a huff.

“I didn’t…I didn’t know what you preferred, mjio. I didn’t mean—“

“Whatever you say.” Victor wiped at his mouth angrily with the napkin. “I’m going to run to the bathroom. I’ll be back.”

“Mijo, I…”

Victor didn’t wait for his response. He stood and walked through the crowded restaurant to the bathroom. He locked the door behind him and leaned over the sink. He splashed water on his face and dried his hands before pulling out his phone. He looked up Benji’s number and clicked on the call icon without much thought.

“Hey,” Benji answered after a few rings. “Give me a second—hey Sarah I’m going to run to the back for a minute! Yes…I know you want to leave. Just a minute and then you can! Vic is on the phone. Oh…don’t start with that!”

“I’m sorry,” Victor sighed. “I shouldn’t have called while you’re at work.”

“Nah, you’re good.” Victor could hear shuffling and slamming noises, as well as a few curses from Benji, no doubt running into the boxes Sarah kept in the back. “I just needed to get Sarah to cover for a minute. You know how she is. She started making kissy faces and talking about my boyfriend being on the line…you know how it goes.”

Victor forced a laugh. “That sounds about right.”

“So…I take it things aren’t going well?”

“I don’t know,” Victor sighed. “It could be worse.”

“That sounds like a thrilling endorsement for your night. What’s up?”

“He just…keeps saying things that I don’t know how to respond to.”

“Like?”

“Well, he couldn’t say the word boyfriend just now. And hasn’t asked about much besides basketball.”

“How are you?”

“I just…I don’t like this.”

Benji sighed sadly through the phone. “Yeah, I know. Dad’s are kind of rough.”

“I mean…does it get better?”

“Maybe…mine has his moments. Your dad seems to care. Just…”

“Keeps putting his foot in his mouth?”  
  
“Yeah, that,” Benji agreed. “Anything I can do?”

“You’re doing it.”

“I wish I could do more. I’m here. Well, mostly. Sarah is giving me a death glare because she apparently wants to leave and can’t let the like three customers out front out be alone for five minutes.”

Victor could hear Sarah respond back at Benji. He relished their bickering. The normalcy of it. “You should go back to work before Sarah makes your life miserable.”

“You mean she doesn’t do that already?” Benji teased. “Yeah…she looks ready to scream so I guess I should go out front. She’s supposed to be out of here and doesn’t like the front being unsupervised.”

“Are you closing up by yourself?”

“Yeah. Shouldn’t be too bad. There are just a few people left. Mostly the regulars. Just have another hour and I can lock up.”

“Okay. Be careful and let me know you made it home later.”

“I’ll text. Good luck with your dad.”

“Thanks.” Victor hung up and hung his head. He knew he had to go back to face his dad and finish dinner. As much as he hated to admit it.

He returned to the table. His dad had his head in his hand and was nursing his soda. He startled in his chair as Victor sat back down. He smiled sadly. “Was afraid you called Benji or Felix to come pick you up and snuck out.”

“No…Benji is working. Felix is on a date with Lake.”

“Really? Those two?”

‘Yeah, for little longer than me and Benji.” He made sure to look his father in the eye as he said the last part.

“Um, how long have you two been, um, official?”

Victor chewed on the inside of his mouth. “Be two months next week. We sorta got together the night of the dance.” _The night I came out to you…_

“Wow, that’s, that’s good.”

Victor didn’t comment. He stuffed the pizza in his mouth. It felt like sand at this point and was nearly impossible to swallow around the emotions clogging his throat.

“How, how are you two?” Armando tried again.

Victor swallowed thickly. “Good. We’re really good.”

“That’s good.”

Victor inwardly cringed at how many times the word “good” had been used in the recent conversation. “Yeah.”

The waitress came by then, much to both of their relief. “Can I get you boys anything else?”

“I don’t think so,” Victor quickly responded, shoving his plate away.

“Check please,” Armando added with a smile at the woman. She nodded and headed back to the register just on the other side of the restaurant. “Is there anything else you’d like to do tonight? We could go over to park by us and play basketball or—“

“It’s getting kind of late,” Victor interrupted. “I worked all afternoon. I don’t really feel like playing tonight.” His father’s face fell. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Yeah, of course. DIdn’t realize you worked after school. We can do another day. We have all weekend.”

Victor tried not to make a face at that. “Yeah. We have the long weekend.”

The waitress returned with their check, and Armando paid without much comment. Victor mindlessly scrolled through his phone, wishing Benji had messaged. He knew his boyfriend couldn’t; he should be getting ready to close up Brasstown for the night.

“Ready?” Armando said, signing off on the receipt and gathering his card from the waitress. Victor nodded and followed his dad out from the restaurant. As they stepped into the parking lot, his phone began vibrating in his hand once more. He looked down to see an incoming call from Benji. “Victor?” his father stated, not necessarily sternly but with a slight warning tone to it.

“I’m coming.” He put the phone back in his pocket and climbed into the car. It stopped buzzing and he tried not to think about the missed call.

Except he couldn’t. It started to ring again as soon as he sat down in the car. His brow furrowed.

“Who’s calling?” his dad inquired.

“Um, Benji. He’s called twice. That’s not really like him.”

Armanda turned the engine over. “Go ahead and answer.” He sighed and shifted in his seat.

Victor nodded and hit the icon to accept the call. “Hey, Benji, I —”

“H-hey.” Benji’s voice did not sound right. He sounded in pain. He didn’t sound okay. “I’m sorry to c-call.”

“What’s wrong?” Victor could tell something was. “Are you okay?”

Armando’s hand stiffened on the wheel, apparently noticing Victor’s tone.

Victor could swear Benji groaned on the other end. “Um…not really.” There was a sharp intake of breath and a shaky exhale. “I think…can you come by the shop? I’m so sorry. I need…I need you to come here.”

Victor’s hands started shaking. “Benji, what’s wrong? I’ll come. Just, what’s wrong?”

“Mijo?” Armando prodded, hearing his son’s voice take on a panicked edge.

Victor shot him a scared look. “Can you go to the coffee shop? I think, something’s wrong. He doesn’t sound okay. I don’t…” He closed his eyes tightly.

“Okay. Okay. I’ll head that way. Just, keep him on the line.”

“Benji?” Victor continued.

“Y-yeah…I’m still here. Not going anywhere.” He sighed again. It sounded pained.

“What’s wrong?” Victor felt his dad pick up speed as they turned toward Brasstown.

“There was,” Benji’s voice shook, “a customer. He wouldn’t leave. And I just…he…”

“Benji?”

“I just wanted to get him to leave.”

“What happened? We’re on our way.”

“Shit…your dad. I—“

“My dad’s fine.” Victor didn’t care if it was true or not right then. “What’s wrong? We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

“I…he,” Benji took a breath between words. “He, um, attacked me when I was trying to lock up. I just…can you please come? I think. I think I’m okay. But I need—“

“We’ll be there in a minute okay.”

“Victor?” Armando questioned. HIs voice was more gentle than Victor expected. “Can you fill me in here, buddy?”

Victor put his hand over the receiver part of his cell. “I-I think Benji is hurt.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for the interest in this story! Hope chapter two doesn't disappoint. There is probably another one or two chapters after this. Thank you again!

Victor all but jumped out of the car before Armando had even put it in park in front of Brasstown. The lights were still on inside the shop. Nothing looked out of place. Not from the outside at least. It looked fine. But nothing about any of this felt fine.

“Slow down, buddy,” Armando cautioned. He jumped out of the car and grabbed his son by the shoulder before he could bolt into the building. “Let’s be safe here.” He pulled his son behind him and walked toward the door first. “Let me go first just in case. You said someone attacked Benji right?” Victor nodded. “Stay behind me.” He pushed the door open and walked into the shop.

Victor followed on his heels. His eyes wildly looked around the dimly lit shop. He didn’t see Benji. Benji wasn’t standing by the counter like always. He wasn’t sitting in one of the nearby barstools or at the table. He didn’t see Benji anywhere.

He took a step and heard crunching under his feet. He looked down. _Glass._ There was glass on the floor. His eyes traced the littered fragments until he saw what must have been a plastic handle. _Broken coffee pot_. The glass went in all directions. He froze as his eyes scanned the rest of the floor. _Jesus…blood…_

“Benji?” Armando called out, pulling Victor back to the moment. His gaze lingered on the blood for another moment before joining his dad in calling out for Benji.

“B-back here.” The voice was soft and a little scratchy. Victor started to hurry for the counter, but was once again slowed down by Armando. The two cautiously approached. Armanda shot glances around the shop, obviously looking for an intruder to be hiding somewhere. He turned and walked behind the counter. Victor followed, stopping in his tracks as he finally saw Benji.

Benji was on the ground, slumped more than sitting anything. His back was against the wall with his head hanging low. His hair was a mess, blood drying on a few strands towards his forehead. Victor could just make out what looked like a nasty gash above Benji’s eyebrow. His left leg was pulled up toward his chest; his right laid out straighter.

“Benji?” Victor sighed.

Benji looked up at him at the sound of his name. “H-hey.” He sent a half hearted smile up at his boyfriend. “Sorry I—“

“What happened?” Victor stepped around his dad, not caring how it looked to him, and knelt down by Benji.

Benji instinctually leaned into Victor. “I”m f-fine.”

“Not sure about that,” Victor replied. His hands hovered over at Benji’s side.

“Benji,” Armando finally said, “is there anyone else here? I just want to make sure we are safe.”

“He left.” Benji swallowed around the words. “He l-left before I called. I saw him leave.”

“Okay.” Armando walked closer and knelt on Benji’s other side. He carefully moved the hair that was fanning Benji’s face and took in the cut. “Hey Vic, where do you guys keep the clean dishrags? I think we should put some pressure on this.”

Benji remained tense under Armando’s hand. He looked to still be in fight or flight mode, but also didn’t seem to have the energy to move much. That scared Victor, more than he could admit right then. So, instead, Victor sat down fully next to him and let him lean more into him. “They are in the back on the shelf. Right when you enter the backroom.”

“Okay. I’ll grab them.” Armando stood and headed off in the direction of the storeroom.

“What happened?” Victor prodded once more.

Benji sighed. “This guy.” He reached a hand up to push his hair out of his eyes. He accidentally hit the spot above his eye and winced.

“Easy,” Armando warned as he came back around the corner, having apparently seen Benji touch the gash. “That’s a nasty cut there.” He wet the rag and knelt back down beside the boys. “I’m going to clean it a little. Can you tell us what happened, Benji?”

Victor was taken aback by how gentle his dad was being. How caring. He sounded like, well, his dad. He had heard that voice so many times. That tone. When he had broken his arm playing basketball in the third grade. When Pilar had her first infected piercing. When Adrian had been bullied by the other kids at the park. When Armando was worried. When he cared for one of his kids.

Victor bit his tongue, putting his focus back on Benji and out of his thoughts. “What happened?”

Benji took a shaky breath. He winced as Armando started to wipe the blood around the cut. “There was a customer. He’s been in here a few times. Not a regular. He has given me looks before. Nothing major. Just sighed when he would see me with Victor or something. I never thought anything of it. But tonight….he was the last one left and I needed to start cleaning. I asked him to leave. And then…” Benji closed his eyes. “Um, he j-just wouldn’t. He started…saying stuff instead.”

Victor’s brow furrowed. “Like?”

“Um,” Benji’s hand shook. Victor noticed small cuts and bruises along his arm too. His knuckles looked raw, like he had tried to fight back. He rubbed at them carefully, trying to avoid the worst of the spots. “I guess he overheard Sarah earlier. When you called.” Victor paled. “You know her. She was teasing me. Teasing us.” _Oh god…she called us boyfriends when I called_.” So when I asked him to leave…he started saying stuff. About me wanting to go see my boyfriend.” Benji’s hand clenched at his side. “Except he didn’t exactly just call you that. I’m, uh, censoring some.”

Victor knew what Benji mean. Hell, Armando must have even by the way his shoulders tensed. Victor’s mind raced at the information. Benji had been assaulted. At their work. After he had called. After Sarah had teased them because he had called. _Oh god…_ “Benji. I’m so so—“

“Don’t.” Benji turned toward Victor. “Don’t apologize. Don’t you dare apologize for a homophobe who couldn’t handle hearing his barista had a boyfriend. That’s not on you.”

“But if I hadn’t called—“

“Victor,” Armando asserted, shocking both boys. “Let’s just focus on Benji right now.” Armando inspected the cut closer. “I think this is going to need stitches. It’s still bleeding pretty steadily. Are you hurt anywhere else?”

“I’m fine,” Benji said a little too quickly. “I don’t need stitches or the hospital. It’s fine.” He started to stand up on his own, as if to prove the point. But he quickly fell back down onto the ground with a pained groan. Victor’s hands were back on him in an instant to steady him as he took a deep breath.

“Okay,” Armando sighed. He put his hand on Benji’s shoulder, giving it a careful squeeze. “Let’s try this again.” He gave Benji a stern look. “Where else are you hurt, kid?”

“Where did he hurt you?” Victor added.

Benji looked up at Victor and conceded. “My head is killing me. Um, he broke the coffee pot over it.” Benji rested his head back against Victor’s shoulder and closed his eyes. “When I went to get him out of the store, he swung out at me and missed. But then he grabbed one of the pots I had left on the counter. He, uh, didn’t miss with it.

“Did you black out?” Armando asked calmly. He carefully prodded around Benji’s head, checking for other injuries or bumps.

“Things got a little fuzzy, but I don’t think so,” Benji replied. “I think I fell after that happened. I was on the ground. I remember that. Um, he kicked me a few times. Got my ribs a little. And my knee.” Benji chewed on his lip for a moment. “They hurt too.”

Armando nodded. “I’m going to look at your side and touch your knee. Is that okay?” He waited for Benji’s assent before carefully lifting his t-shirt up. Victor sat up so he could see. Benji’s skin along his ribs looked red and angry. It looked painful. Armando prodded the ribs softly, earning a hiss from Benji. “I’m sorry, kid,” Armando stated, finishing up. “I’m going to touch your knee.”

Victor squeezed Benji’s hand. “I think you should let us take you to the ER.”

“Victor’s right,” Armando added. “Your knee feels pretty swollen from what I can feel through your jeans. Between that and your head, I think it would be safer to have you checked out. We can take you if you want to call your parents to have them meet us.”

Benji stiffened under Victor. “Um, I’d rather not bother them. They’re out of town right now. They’re with my aunt down in Florida. She’s been sick and they went down to help for few weeks. They don’t need to know.”

Armando’s face looked shocked at the way Benji discussed his parents. “You are going to have to call them, son. You’re a minor, right?” Benji nodded with a huff. “The hospital will need their consent and information. So let’s call them and get you up after that. Okay?”

Benji sighed in defeat as he picked his phone up from the ground. He thumbed through the contacts until he found his dad’s number. He turned on the speaker and let the phone fall back on his lap.

“Hey, Benji,” Mr. Campbell answered. “Little late for a call don’t you think, son?”

Victor stiffened at the tone coming through the phone. He had met Mr. Campbell a few times and he had been, mostly fine. But he sounded upset on the phone right now.

“Yeah. I know. I’m sorry, dad.” Benji had his head down, avoiding eye contact with Victor and Armando. “Um, something kind of happened.”

“Benji?” His dad’s voice seemed more worried at that at least. “What’s wrong? Please don’t say you wrecked again. You’re mother—“

“I didn’t do anything,” Benji interrupted.

“Mr. Campbell?” Armando added, saving Benji the trouble of explaining. Victor gave his dad a grateful smile. “This is Armando Salazar, Victor’s dad? I’m at Brasstown with the boys. Benji called us to come help him. A customer worked him over pretty good while he was trying to close up. I think he may have given him aconcussion and some bad bruises at the very least. I want to take him to the hospital to be checked out. With your permission.”

“Benji? Are you okay, son? I’m sorry, I just thought maybe you—“

“I didn’t do anything stupid if that is what you want to know.” Benji’s voice had a slight edge to it. “I got attacked at work.” Victor’s throat felt tight as Benji talked. “Mr. Salazar is going to take me to the ER.” Armando gave Victor a look. Victor pushed it away. He wouldn’t give Benji’s past away. Not without permission. It wasn’t his story to tell.

“Okay, okay,” Mr. Campbell said. “I—“

“You don’t need to come home. I’m fine.” Benji looked anything but fine but neither of the Salazars said anything.

“Benji—“

“Mom has been really worried about Anne. And I know she wanted to stay to help her out. It’s fine.”

“We’ll get him check out and he can stay with us after,” Armando added.

“Okay. That’s…that would be great. I’m really sorry. I…I’m so sorry this happened Benji. I’ll call the ER and do whatever they need by phone. Thank you for taking him, Mr. Salazar.”

“Of course,” Armando replied.

“Please text or call with updates. Either you or Victor, buddy. He has our number right?”

“Yeah, I still have it Mr. Campbell,” Victor called out.

“Good. That’s…so good. Okay. Alright. I’ll call the ER, Benji.”

“Thanks…”

With that, the phone call dropped and Benji sagged even further into Victor. Victor snuck a kiss to his forehead, hoping his father wouldn’t say anything. Benji looked hurt, in more ways than one.

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” Armando continued. He rubbed his forehead as he spoke. “I’m going to unlock the car and make sure the back is cleared off. Adrian probably left his toy wand back there and don’t think you want to lay on that.” He was trying for humor, something Victor honestly didn’t expect. “Vic, why don’t you make sure everything is locked up and off in here for Benji? Then we’ll get him up. I don’t know for sure what’s wrong with your knee, so I think I’d feel better if you let us take on most of your weight when we move you.”

“Yeah,” Benji sighed. “I tried to put weight on it earlier. Didn’t go well.”

Armando nodded and gave his shoulder a squeeze. “I’ll be right back, boys.” He left the shop to go prep the car.

Victor slid over in front of Benji. “How are you doing? For real?”

“Been better,” Benji admitted. He tried to move his leg and winced as his knee protested the action.

“I bet.” Victor squeezed Benji’s good knee. “I’m sorry about all this. And your dad. That…”

“It’s fine. He thought I wrecked the car again.” He shrugged. “I get it.”

“But still, that wasn’t cool. That was like a year ago. He should know that you wouldn’t do that.”

“No, it kind of sucked.” Benji looked Victor in the eyes. “You can tell your dad. He’s going to ask.”

“I don’t have to. I—“

“It’s fine.”

“Not sure anything about tonight is fine, B.” Victor leaned forward and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

“Yeah. Tonight hasn’t been good. I can’t believe this happened.”

“I know. I’m really sorry.”

“Stop apologizing. Really. This isn’t on you. Or Sarah for that matter. Though…shit! Sarah! She is going to go nuclear when she finds out about this.”

“I’ll call her when we get the hospital. She’ll want to know.”

“She’ll want to call the cops.” He winced. Victor couldn’t tell if it was from pain or the realization that he would have to give a statement to the police. “Everything should be on security cameras. She’ll want to come down and deal with all that.”

“I’ll call her for you. Is there anyone else?”

“No…dad will tell mom I guess.”

“Okay.” Victor chewed on his lip with anxiety.

“You can tell Felix.”

“No, I don’t have to do that to you.”

Benji huffed out a laugh, wincing and grabbing at his side. “Owe…”

“Yeah I wouldn’t do that again.”

“Yeah, probably bad idea. But you can tell Felix. He’ll be fine. He’ll let you talk about it.”

“I know but this is about you. Not me.”

Benji shrugged. “I think you need support too. It’s fine. Promise.” He set his hand on top of Victor’s.

The door opened once more and Armando walked back inside. “Alright, car’s ready if you guys are.”

“Guess as ready as I will be.” Benji started to push himself upright a bit more. Victor’s hand shot out to steady him and help him. Armando took up place on the other side. “This is going to suck,” Benji whined.

“Yeah,” Armando agreed. “Just, let us take most of your weight. And if you need us to pause, just tell us. No toughing it out. Nothing to prove here.”

Benji scrunched his face and nodded. Victor couldn’t tell if it was in pain or out of confusion at how kind Armando was being. Considering the man had barely said more than three words to him since they started dating…

Victor and Armando helped Benji leverage himself up. “Shit,” he groaned. He would have fallen back down had Armando not had such a tight grip. “Fuck…” he breathed out harshly.

“It’s okay,” Armando coached. “We got you.”

Victor rubbed Benji’s back as he adjusted to being upright. “You’re doing great, B.”

Benji closed his eyes, focusing on his breathing and nodded. “Th-thanks. Okay. I…I can move.”

“Are you sure?” Victor prodded. Benji nodded again and took a steadying breath. With that, the trio slowly made their way out to the car. Benji largely shuffled his feet and focused on just remaining upright. He would likely have fallen more than once if Victor and Armando hadn’t been so careful. It took just minutes to make it to the car, even though it felt like ages for Victor.

“Vic, go ahead and get in the back. Slide over to the other side, that way you can help Benji in.”

“But—“

“i’ve got him.” Armando took on more of Benji’s weight and urged Victor into the car. Victor complied; he opened the door and slid over to the passenger side. Armando helped lower Benji into the car. Once in, he all but fell into Victor’s side. “Got him?”

“Yeah.” Victor careful pulled Benji in close.

“Try to wear your seatbelts. Is there anything inside you need? Keys? Bag?”

Benji nodded and swallowed thickly around what must have been a lot of pain at this point. “Yeah. Keys and backpack are in backroom.”

“Okay. I’ll grab them and lock up. Give me a second.” Armando shut the door and ran back inside the shop.

“Thank you for coming,” Benji sighed, leaning into Victor. “Sorry I ruined your night.”

“You could never ruin my night.” Victor nudged Benji’s chin up so he could give him a careful kiss on the lips. “I just hate seeing you hurt. I’m glad you called us.”

“Me too,” Benji conceded. “I thought at first I could get home by myself if I just sat there long enough.”

“Yeah…not so sure that would have worked.”

“Hmmm probably not so well.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Benji slumped into the carseat and let Victor take on his weight once again. “Just…thank you. Both of you.”

Victor kissed him once more. Armando returned and broke the moment. He looked at the boys quickly before backing out of the parking lot. _He saw us kiss._ Victor didn’t know what to make of his dad’s reaction. Of his dad at all tonight. Nothing about tonight made sense. Nothing felt like it was supposed to.

Benji shifted with a groan as Armando hit a pothole on the road.

“Sorry,” Armando quickly called back. “Will try to avoid those. It shouldn’t take too long for us.”

Victor caught his dad’s gaze in the rearview mirror. He mouthed a silent thank you. Armando gave him an unreadable smile. Victor would have to figure all this out. Eventually. But for now, he was going to just focus on getting Benji to the hospital. The rest…well that would just have to wait.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you again for all who have followed, commented, or given kudos. It has been much appreciated! Now for the chapter...I am by no means a medical doctor, and have no formal knowledge of how parental consent at an ER works. I work in a different medical field and have an understanding of outpatient services with minors, but again, no clue about emergency services and care. So please forgive any and all inaccuracies. Thanks again! Probably another chapter or two left :)

Victor squeezed Benji’s hand as his father pulled in front of the nearest ER. Benji had largely been silent on the way there. He squeezed Victor’s hand every now and then, and responded when Armando gave him updates along the way and checked in on him. But he didn’t initiate anything. That scared Victor. Benji wasn’t the most talkative of his crew, that title definitely belonged to Felix. But Benji had never been this silent in front of him. Not since they had gotten together especially.

Armando put the car in park and started to come around to help the boys out. Before he could get Benji out, an orderly came out from the ER, asking if they needed help.

“A wheelchair might be helpful,” Armando requested. “I’ve got a kid back here with a possible concussion and a pretty swollen knee.” The orderly nodded and grabbed a nearby wheelchair for them. He brought it around and assisted Armando and Victor in getting Benji out of the car and into the ER waiting room. He then handed Benji a fresh towel for his forehead.

“What can I do for you?” the desk worker asked.

“My son’s fr-boyfriend was assaulted at work earlier,” Armando answered for the boys. Victor startled at the use of the term. His father hadn’t said boyfriend really. But he just did. “His dad was supposed to call in to let you guys know we were bringing him.”

“Alright, first and last name?”

“Benji Campbell,” Benji spoke up.

“Okay.” The lady typed some information in the computer and grabbed forms next to her. “Go ahead and fill these out and we’ll call you back as soon as possible. You can move your car to the main lot to the left and bring those up when you are done. We’ll be with you soon.”

Victor sighed at the dismissal and took the forms from her. He helped moved Benji away from the desk so that others could come forward. Fridays at an Atlanta hospital were fairly busy after all…

“I’ll be right back,” Armando said once the boys were situation in their own corner of the waiting room. “Benji, do you need anything from your backpack?”

“No, thank you though. I have my wallet on me. If they need ID or insurance.” Benji looked tired as he spoke.

Armando nodded. “Okay. I’ll be fast. Text if you need anything.”

Victor returned the nod toward his dad before turning to Benji. His boyfriend had already started to fill out the paperwork. His hands were shaking.

“Do you want me to help?” Victor asked.

Benji bit his lip. “It’s okay. Just…think everything is kind of catching up to me.” He carefully ran a hand through his hair. He sighed deeply. “You should call Sarah though. She’ll want to know and start dealing with things.”

Victor had forgotten all about Sarah. “Right. I can do that.” He cursed himself for forgetting to call their boss. He cursed himself for a lot of things tonight.

Benji grabbed his hand. “Stop beating yourself up.” Victor smiled sadly at how well the other boy could read him. “It’s not your fault. And this isn’t easy on you either. It’s okay to forget things.” He squeezed Victor’s hand. “This is kind of a lot.”

Victor looked up at him. “I think I’m the one supposed to be comforting you. Not the other way around, here, B.”

Benji smiled a little. “I think we can handle going back and forth.” He gave Victor a soft kiss on the cheek. “I’m fine. Mostly.” He let go of Victor’s hand reluctantly to finish the paperwork.

“Benji…”

“Okay,” he huffed. “I feel like shit.” He rubbed at his eyes a little. “But I think dealing with Sarah will give me a worse headache than filling out this.” He gave Victor another smile.

“Probably,” Victor agreed. He pulled out his phone and found Sarah’s number. He hit send quickly and held the phone up to his hear.

_“The shop better be on fire if you are calling me at this time on a Friday night, Salazar…_ ”

“Hello to you too, Sarah.” Benji gave him a look from his chair and shook his head slightly. “Shop’s not on fire but, um, something happened this evening with Benji at the shop.”

_“Wait, for real?”_ Sarah’s tone changed quickly at Victor’s words. _“What’s wrong? Why are you calling and not Benji?”  
_

“Benji’s beside me. We’re kind of in the ER right now. He’s filling out forms so asked me to call.”

_“The ER?”_

“Yeah, a, uh, a customer attacked Benji at lock up. Um, I think he,” Victor paused to collect his words and emotions, “he heard me call. You joke that Benji was talking to his boyfriend.” Victor chewed on his lip. “He attacked Benji over it.”

_“Oh my god!”_ Victor heard rattling and clinking noises in the background. _“Did you guys call the police? Why didn’t the police call me? I—“_

“Benji called me. My dad and I came and got him. We took him to the ER and figured you could call the police for us? I’m sorry. I don’t think Benji felt like dealing with the cops on top of the trip to the ER and his parents. Not all at once at least.” Benji sent him a grateful smile. “He said the cameras should have picked up on everything. And we know he will have to give a statement to the cops. But—“

_“I’m on it!”_ Sarah must have been grabbing her keys from the noises Victor heard through the phone. _“Keep me updated. Which hospital are you guys at?”_

“I’m not sure. Dad drove to the closest one.” Armanda had entered and was walking back over. “Papi? Which hospital is this?”

“We’re at Northside.” Armanda took a set on Victor’s other side.

“Northside,” Victor informed Sarah.

_“Got it! I’m heading back to Brasstown now. If you guys need anything just give me a call. I’ll let you know what the police say.”_

“Thanks,” Victor sighed. He hung up and put his phone back away for now.

“Who was that?” Armando asked.

“Our boss,” Benji huffed. “She’s…dramatic on a good day.” The pen slipped from his fingers as his hands continued to shake.

“Let’s take over this for you.” Armando reached around Victor and took the clipboard from Benji. Benji looked ready to protest but Armando shushed him. “The faster we finish this up, the sooner they will take you back, kid. So how about I write. You fill me in on whatever I need to put down.” Benji nodded and slumped back in the wheelchair.“Alright…address?” Benji rattled off the answers to the remaining questions. “Okay…any medical problems or history of problems they need to know about? Think that is it and we can turn this back in.”

“No conditions…but…um I did have a concussion like a year ago. I don’t think they like you having multiple ones in a short amount of time. Not sure that matters. But…”

“We’ll note it just in case,” Victor interrupted. Armanda nodded and filled out the last of the forms. He handed it back for Benji to sign off and stood without a word to take to the front desk. He returned them to the lady and spoke to her, most likely about Benji’s dad giving consent or calling if Victor had to guess. His hand found Benji’s again before his dad could return.

“How are you guys holding up?” Armando asked as he sat back down.

“Been better,” Benji repeated.

“You’ve said that a time or two,” Victor teased. “Can you tell me what that means?”

“I’m really fine, Vic,” Benji replied.

“Kid,” Armando interjected, “you’re closing and squinting your eyes like your head is killing you. I’ve seen you grab at your side a few times now. And I don’t think you have let your knee brush up again anything since we put you in the car. So…I don’t know if we can go with things are just fine.” He gave Benji a stern look. “So…tell us how you are really feeling so we can help you with the doctors. You’re making me worried that you’re going to pass out on us and we won’t know what to tell them.”

Victor paled at his dad’s words. His gaze turned sharply to Benji, who did look ready to pass out in more ways than one. He squeezed Benji’s hand to offer some encouragement.

Benji’s face fell for a moment and he took an unsteady breath. “My head and knee really hurt.” He close his eyes at the admission. “And it’s starting to freak me out.”

Armando nodded and stood back up. He returned to the front desk and talked to the registration lady. Victor couldn’t hear what was said between them, so he focused back on Benji. “Thank you.” Victor put his arm around Benji’s shoulders and let the other boy lean against him some from his position in the wheelchair.

Armando returned and moved the towel from Benji’s head to see how the bleeding had been doing. There was still far too much on the rag from Victor’s liking. Seemed too much for Armando’s if his face was anything to go off of. “They said they should bring you back soon. Especially given this.” He guided Benji’s hand back to the gash with the towel.

“Thanks,” Benji mumbled. It was obvious he was having a harder time staying as awake as when they first arrived. Victor was afraid.

“Benji Campbell?”a nurse called from the doorway.

“That’s us,” Armando answered. The nurse walked over toward them. “This is Benji.”

The nurse nodded. “Hey, Benji,” he greeted softly. “We got your paperwork all sorted and spoke with your dad already. Ready to go back?”

“Y-yeah.” He sat up more with a wince, trying to be more coherent for the nurse. Victor squeezed his hand.

“Easy, kiddo,” the nurse instructed. “Well, I’m Alex and I’ll be helping you out tonight. Do you want your…boyfriend?” Victor’s face reddened, but he nodded nonetheless. “Okay, boyfriend, to come back with you? And your…”

“Boyfriend’s dad,” Armando supplied awkwardly. “Boyfriend is Victor. I’m Armando.”

“Can they?” Benji asked softly.

“Yeah, I think so,” Alex replied. “Just follow me.” Alex took the handles of Benji’s wheelchair and pushed him through the double doors to the exam area of the ER. He turned and went toward a curtained off area and parked the wheelchair close to an exam bed. “Alright…let’s get you up and out of those clothes.” Benji blushed at that. “Not the most attractive outfit in the world, but let’s get you in one of our gowns. I think you should be good to leave underclothes on, but given the injuries you mentioned, I think we’re going to need you out of your tee and jeans.”

“His knee was pretty swollen earlier,” Armando supplied. “I’m not sure he will be able to slide those off.”

Alex nodded. “We can cut them if we need to. How about we get you up on the bed and go from there.” He locked the wheels of the chair. “Okay, you just let me take most of your weight. And Armando and Victor can hang at your sides. Okay?” Alex waited for Benji to nod in understand before helping him up. Armando ended up assisting as Benji lost his balance. Victor’s worry was growing worse with each minute.

Alex helped Benji onto the bed and proceeded to take off his shirt to better see the bruises at his ribs. He triaged the injuries to his upper body carefully before moving on. He palpitated Benji’s knee through the jeans, earning a very sharp his from the boy. He nodded and wordlessly grabbed a pair of scissors from the nearby cart. He made quick work of cutting them off and sliding them out from under Benji. Benji didn’t say much. He had his hands over his eyes and was trying to take deep breathes. Victor couldn’t stand it much longer. He slid around his dad and sat at Benji’s head.

“Hey,” Victor gently prodded.

“Hey,” Benji sighed. It was obvious that he was feeling worse with the way the nurse was having to touch and prod at him. “This sucks.”

“I’m sorry, Benji,” Alex said from where he was inspecting his knee. “Just give me another minute and I’ll leave you alone. You can let Victor help you with the gown and take a breather before the doc comes in.” Alex stood and walked around to gather supplies. He turned back with a couple ice packs and some gauze. “Let’s put these on your knee and side.” He placed the items around the injuries. “And let me see about cleaning that gash and getting some vitals.” He took temperature, blood pressure, and the works as quickly as possible. He kicked the moving stool over so he could situate himself near Benji’s head. “Victor can stay where he is.”

“Thanks,” Benji sighed. He grabbed onto Victor’s hand as Alex started to wipe at the large cut.

“You’re welcome kid.” Alex continued to clean at the wound. “Looks like someone got you pretty good.”

“Y-yeah…”

“We’ll get you fixed up.” Alex winked. “And from what I heard you get to go back to your boyfriend’s place to recover.”

“Um, yeah, parents are out of town,” Benji replied. He winced as Alex started to disinfect the cut.

“What I heard from the nurse who talked to your dad. So how long have you two been together?”

Victor liked what the nurse was doing. He was distracting Benji who was obviously starting to wear down at this point. He snuck a look at his father. Armando looked…not anxious. Not mad. Not super comfortable. But not bad. “Almost two months,” Victor answered.

“But were friends for awhile first,” Benji added.

“Good way to do it,” Alex continued. “Okay…I think this will probably need some liquid stitches to hold. Let me fix that up and cover with some gauze pads. Then we’ll get the doctor back here to check you out. My guess is we’ll take you off for some scans after that.”

“Thank you,” Armando stated.

Benji lay there quietly while Alex worked. It didn’t take long for Alex to declare he was done and would notify the doctor to come by in a minute. He handed Victor a gown and some blankets so they could help get Benji more comfortable. They made quick work of it and sat in silence until the doctor came in.

“Hello,” a young doctor stated. “I’m Dr. Ross, but you guys can just call me Beth tonight.” She shook Armando’s hand and turned to the boys. “I heard someone has had a rough night.”

“You could say that,” Benji sighed.

“Let’s see what we can do for that.” Alex returned with some more supplies and assisted. The team checked Benji’s head injury, ribs, and knee. Watching Benji as they prodded and twisted the swollen joint…Victor felt like he was going to come undone during that. He knew it had to be done…but…

“Let’s get you up for some scans and rule out a few things,” the doctor finally said. “I don’t think anything is broken, but I want to make sure before I wrap your knee. I think you may have some damage to the ligaments there…your LCL more specifically. But want to make sure nothing is broken. It will heal with some rest and ice…but we need to monitor that either way. Same with your head. It doesn’t sound like you passed out and your pupils are responsive but I want to rule out a concussion before we send you home. Especially since records show you had a pretty nasty concussion last year, correct?”

“Fourteen months ago,” Benji replied.

“I just want to be safe,” Dr. Ross added. “Same with your ribs. They don’t feel broken but there could be a crack. Won’t change a lot with treatment, but want to be certain before we send you home.”

“Will he have to stay the night?” Victor asked, trying to process everything.

“Depends on the scans,” the doctor answered. “With what I am seeing right now, I don’t think we will need to. Especially if you and your dad are able to monitor him and keep an eye on everything. Definitely don’t want Benji to go back to his house if his parents are still out of town.”

“That’s not a problem,” Armand supplied.

“Good. He’ll probably need some rest and ice…maybe some specific food and liquids to make up for blood loss. I’m going to go ahead and set you up with an IV for right now to help with that while we run the scans.” She nodded to Alex to go ahead and insert the IV needled into Benji’s hand. “Then let’s get you checked out and see what we need to do from there.” Things happened in a whirlwind from there. Dr. Ross left, Alex started prepping Benji for tests…before any of them knew it, Benji was being wheeled out. Victor struggled to let go of his boyfriend, afraid of all the what ifs. Armando had to finally walk over and nudge his son to let go.

“I’m sorry,” Victor sighed once Benji was out of sight and he was left alone with his dad in the curtained off area.

“No need to be, mijo.” Armando squeezed his shoulder and nudged him back down onto his chair. “Not how we expected tonight to go.”

“No…”

“It’s okay.” Armand sat down beside his son. “This is…a lot. I just…that someone could do that…” He shook his head. “I know I’ve been…” he made a gesture with his hands. Victor didn’t interrupt, afraid and uncertain of what to expect from his dad. Armando sighed deeply. “I know I haven’t handled things great. But I would never…I’d never hurt you two. Not like that. I don’t understand hurting a kid. I…”

Victor nodded, not trusting his voice.

“I’m sorry this happened to you guys.” He rubbed at Victor’s shoulders. “And, I’m sorry that this is how I get to know Benji.”

Victor looked up at his dad at that. He looked genuine. He looked like he was trying. Like he was actually seeing things for the first time since the night of the dance. Since the night everything changed.

“He seems like a good guy.” Armand sounded awkward and still more uncomfortable than Victor had hoped, but it was a start.

“He is. Really good.” Victor took a deep breath. “He makes me happy.”

Armando nodded and chewed at his lip. “I think I can see that. You are close to him. I know this has to be hard to see happen.”

“Yeah.” Victor rubbed at his face, trying to keep the tears at bay. “I’m worried about him.”

“Of course. He’s hurt and we’re sitting in an ER waiting on him. But he will heal. You both will.” Armando looked deep in thought for a moment. “We’ll get him set up at home until his parents come back. It’s fine.”

“Yeah, um, I guess I should call Mr. Campbell at some point.” He grabbed his phone and stared at the screen, dreading the text.

“You do that and I’ll call your mom. Let her know what is going on. Do you want her to come back? You know she’ll ask.” Armando held up his hands. “No pressure either way, promise mijo. Just want to know what you need.”

Victor was taken aback. By all of this. By everything that his father was saying. Everything he had said in the last few minutes.

“Um,” he cleared his throat, “no. It’s okay. We’re fine. She has been looking forward to this trip.” He played with his phone in his hands. “Besides…Benji won’t be great with the stairs. Your place in on the first floor. Less to deal with.”

“Good point. That’s…yeah. Good.” Armando mimicked his son and twirled his phone for a moment. “Okay, I’ll call her and you get ahold of the Campbells. Are you okay with talking to them? Mr. Campbell seemed…”

“He’s fine,” Victor quickly stated. “They aren’t the closest but it’s fine.”

“So, what was that he meant then? About Benji ‘wrecking again?’”

_Well shit…_ Victor had nearly forgotten that. “Oh, um, Benji was in a car accident fourteen months ago. He totaled his dad’s car.” _Please drop it, dad._

“Wow, what happened?” Armando looked concerned.

“I don’t…not sure if it’s really my story to tell.”

“Victor…” His father’s voice had a slight warning tone to it. “What happened?”

“Fine,” he relented. “He um, Benji had a hard time before he came out. He started drinking a lot to deal. And ended up driving drunk through a Wendy’s drive thru fourteen months ago.” He spoke fast and barely took a breath between words. He wasn’t sure how his dad would react to the news.

“Vic—“

“He doesn’t drink now. Hasn’t since. Not like that. And hasn’t driven since either. His license was suspended for eighteen months. He came out to his parents after and hasn’t done anything like that since and—“

“Woah, slow down, flaco. It’s okay.” Armando held his hands up. “I’m not lecturing you here. Or him. I just need to know that he is safe. That he wouldn’t do that again.”

“He hasn’t. He doesn’t.”

“Okay…we all make mistakes. I should know that.”

Victor gaped at his dad for a moment. “Fair…”

“Just…call his parents and I’ll call your mom.” With that the boys stood up and moved to opposite sides of the curtained area to make their calls. Isabel was worried, and immediately offered to drive back. Armando managed to talk her down. Benji’s dad, however, didn’t even offer to return. Not this time. Victor tried not to bristle or snap at that. Inside, he was screaming. He didn’t understand. He didn’t want to. The calls were wrapped up shortly after all the details were provided. The two men settled back in to wait for Benji.

Victor silently hoped Benji would be back soon. That they could take him home soon. Take care of him. Victor vowed to do what he had to to help his boyfriend through this. Whatever it took. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys yet again for comments, kudos, and just reading following this in general. It has really meant a lot. I believe (yes I know I say this every time) that there is one chapter and a possible epilogue left after this (unless my brain decides to get carried away). I've really loved writing these boys and do believe I will be doing more of that with future stories. That is my current goal, especially as I take some time off work this week. Anyway...thank you again and onto the story!

It was getting late. Victor kept checking his phone for the time. He was counting down how long Benji had been gone. It had only been half an hour, but it felt like so much longer. Like so much more. He was worried and it only doubled with each passing minute. He logically knew an MRI and some x-rays would take time. But he couldn’t help but worry that the extra time meant something more.

Armando had ran out to the car to grab a few things from Benji’s backpack. Once they had each ended their calls with Isabel and the Campbells, they had realized Benji would need some extra clothes. Victor knew Benji usually kept spare clothes in his backpack in case he need them at work. After they sat there, seeing Benji’s cut up jeans across the room, Armando had decided to go out to look for something so Benji would have clothes to leave in. Victor had opted to stay where he was. To wait for Benji to come back. Hopefully soon.

His phone starting buzzing in his pocket, pulling him out of his head and back to the damn ER. He grabbed his cell and answered without much thought. It was probably Benji’s parents. Or Isabel. “Hello,” he greeted.

_“Oh thank god!”_

“Felix?”

_“Dude are you okay?”_ There was a pause. _“Yes this is Felix.”_

“What? What are you talking about?”

_“Victor, Lake and I just rode past Brasstown. And there are, like, a ton of cops swarming the place.”_ Lake made some comments in the background that Victor couldn’t quite make out. _“Okay, well not a ton but there were cop cars there and, are you okay? I didn’t think you were working tonight but—“_

“I’m fine,” Victor sighed. “It’s…it’s just…”

_“What’s wrong? You don’t sound fine.”_

Victor deep a deep breath. He stood from his chair and started pacing. “Um…well.” He took a deep breath.

_“What’s going on? Lake is already scoping Creeksecrets but no one is biting.”_

“Wait…what did Lake post?” Victor’s voice took on a panicked edge.

_“Nothing! Nothing yet. She was looking through posts but was going to post to see if people knew what was going on. I told her to let me call you first so—“_

“Don’t let her post!”

__

_“Victor? You’re worrying me. What’s going on? I—Hey Lake, don’t post yet. I think something’s actually wrong. No…I don’t know yet. Vic? What’s going on here, buddy?”  
_

Victor sighed. “Um, it’s just, it’s not that easy to talk about,” he finally admitted. It was harder to pretend he was okay. At least with Felix.

_“Just, take your time. What happened? Are you okay?”_

“I’m fine. Mostly. I wasn’t working tonight.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But, um, Benji was. He…”

_“Is he okay?”_

“I don’t…I don’t know yet.”

_“Vic?”_

“I’m at the ER waiting to find out,” Victor finally admitted. “Please don’t let Lake post any of this yet. I don’t, I don’t think Benji would want it super public right now. He, uh, he was attacked by a customer when he was trying to close up. Um, we think the guy heard him talking to me earlier in the night. We think, maybe he attacked because Benji was gay. I just.” Victor swallowed thickly. “He called after it happened. My dad and I went to him after that. We took him to the ER and Sarah was supposed to call the police and deal with all that. I don’t know what they are doing beyond that yet. I haven’t talked to Sarah yet. And I don’t know that Benji would appreciate it being all over Creeksecrets when he was feeling pretty shitty last I saw him.”

_“Holy shit! That’s…are you okay? That sounds like a lot.”_

“Honestly, I don’t now, man. Right now I’m trying to just see how he is doing. They took him back for an MRI and some x-rays. The, um, guy.” Victor closed his eyes as he spoke. “He broke a coffee pot against Benji’s head. And kicked him a lot after. They think he has some bruised ribs and maybe some damage to his knee. I don’t know yet.”

_“God…that’s…I’m so sorry, buddy.”_

Victor felt the emotions clogging his throat as he spoke. “Me too. This…it really sucks.”

_“Are you alone?”_

“Um, just for right now. My dad is staying. He’s going to let Benji stay with us once he’s allowed to leave. His parents are out of town for awhile and he didn’t want them to come back over this.” _They didn’t offer to either._ “Dad just ran out to find some spare clothes for Benji. They, um, had to cut off his jeans. His knee was really swollen.”

_“Do you need anything? I’m in an Uber right now. About to drop Lake off at Mia’s for the night. I can have them drop me off at the hospital after if you need. I—“_

“No, that’s okay,” Victor interjected. “Benji will hopefully be released soon. I don’t really know yet. But we’re hoping he doesn’t have to stay the night. They just need to make sure he doesn’t have a concussion or any broken bones first.” Victor’s mouth ran dry at that. “I’m just waiting right now. It’s okay.”

Victor could hear Felix say a few things to Lake. He couldn’t quite make out everything. Before he could say much else, Felix commented back to him. _“Call me if something changes? We’re at Mia’s right now. Lake is heading in and I”m going to go back to our building. I can help you get Benji inside later if you guys need. Or head to the pharmacy for stuff. Whatever you need. I’ll hang out just in case.”_

“That…that would be great. His knee is pretty bad. So I’m not sure how he is going to manage the front steps. We’re going to bring him to dad’s place on the first floor for now. I don’t want to make him deal with all the stairs to our floor.”

_“That’s probably smart. Lake says to call her if you need anything else. She, um, says she doesn’t hate you or anything. Even though you hurt her best friend. She is actually worried about you two and—owe! You just told me that! Why are you hitting me for telling him that?”_ Victor found himself smiling a little at his friends. _“Fine! Whatever. But seriously, Vic, we’re all a call away. Just text if you need anything at all.”_

“Okay, yeah, I will. Thank you guys.” Victor hung up and slumped back down into his chair. His mind was hyper focused on the idea of this making Creeksecrets. He pulled up the blog on his phone and started scrolling. There was now a post about cops being at Brasstown. Comments were speculating the plausible reasons, but no one quite had it right. Some asked about robberies. Others fires. There were a few off the wall ideas of course. Creek Wood loved their drama after all. He saw an alert for a new comment on the post. He initially blanched at Lake’s username. But, much to his relief, she was backing the robbery idea. And telling people that Victor and Benji were fine. He breathed a sigh of relief. Thankfully, summer break had just started. He wouldn’t have to deal with everyone. Not yet at least.

However, the relief was short lived. HIs phone started ringing again. He glanced at the screen this time. HIs heart dropped for a moment. _Mia._ Mia, who hadn’t talked to him a whole lot in the last month and a half. Mia was calling.

“Hello?”

_“Um, hey, Victor._ ”

“Hey, Mia.” His voice cracked on the greeting.

_“I just, I wanted to check on you. Lake just, she just told me what happened."_

He let his head fall back against the wall. “Yeah. It’s…it’s not been a good night.”

_“I…I can imagine.”_ There was an award silence for a moment. _“Well…I can’t imagine how you must be feeling. But it sounds like a lot right now.”_

Victor let a tear fall down his face. “I just…I”m really worried. And scared. He didn’t…he didn’t look great last I saw him.” He took a deep breath. All of this was a lot. This whole night. Talking to Mia, his former best friend turned girlfriend turned…whatever this was. Watching Benji be in pain. So much pain. Being involved in all of this. It was so much.

_“I’m sure Benji will be okay,”_ Mia supplied, her voice more comforting than Victor expected. _“He’s tough. And…he won’t blame you for this. He…he really cares about you.”_

Victor tensed at her words, not because he felt she was wrong, but because how hard it was to hear from her. From Mia. “I’m really sorry Mia. I didn’t want to hurt you. I—“

_“You’ve said that a time or two, Salazar,”_ she cautiously teased. _“Just…don’t apologize tonight. I may still need to hear it a few more times. But not tonight.”_ She took a deep breath herself. _“Just, keep us posted on Benji tonight. Lake and I are together. Felix just left. He said he would plan to stay up for awhile in case you need him. We…we’ll do the same. I don’t think we will get any sleep any time soon._ ”

“Yeah, me neither,” Victor admitted. His dad walked back toward him at that moment. “Um, my dad just got here, so I think I should…”

“Yeah. Of course. Call or text later.”

“I will. Thanks, Mia.” Armando sent him a look at that as he took his seat. “Felix saw cops at the coffee shop on his way home. Lake was with him. They called. She told Mia. So…”

Armando nodded at that. “Any word from Benji yet? I found pair of gym shorts and a spare work tee in his bag. That should get us home at least. He can borrow something more comfortable from you if he needs. Or I can go by his place tomorrow and pick up a few things.”

“No, they haven’t been back yet.” Victor chewed on his lower lip out of anxiety.

“It takes some time.” Armando squeezed his shoulder. “I remember the time you broke your arm.” He smiled sadly. “Your mother, I thought she was going to wear a hole in the floor with all her pacing while you were back in x-rays. It can take a bit to get the right images. I know that doesn’t help with your worry. But it doesn’t mean that anything is wrong. Benji could be having a hard time staying still. That’s not uncommon when you are in pain. Or he could have had to wait on some others to finish up first. Lots of reasons.”

Victor nodded. “I know.”

“It’s okay. It will be okay.” Armando pulled his son into his side for a quick hug. “How are you holding up?”

Victor closed his eyes. He could feel tears starting to form. He really didn’t want to cry in front of his father.

“Hey, you’re okay,” Armando soothed, obviously picking up on his son’s emotions.

Victor swallowed thickly. “I…I don’t know.”

Armando squeezed his shoulder and let him have a few minutes to collect himself. “I’m here. I, I know I haven’t been here as much as I should have been. I know that. Have known that. And, I’m sorry, mijo. I don’t know what I’m doing. And I know that isn’t okay. But, I’m here.”

Victor felt a tear fall at that. His dad…well he wasn’t perfect. Far from it. Even tonight with all the good, the tension was still there. But, this was something. It was a change from he other nights. “Th-thanks, papi. I’m, I don’t know. Not okay really. But…”

“We’ll figure it out.” Armando ran a hand through his hair nervously. “I just…” His voice trailed off as Alex and another nurse returned to the space with Benji. The boy looked exhausted on the bed. His knee was up on some extra pillows. A blanket covered the rest of him. His arm lay over his face, blocking the light from his eyes.

Victor sat up straighter as the bed was put back into place and locked. He reached over and grabbed Benji’s other hand once more, earning a squeeze from his boyfriend. “Welcome back,” he gently prodded. Benji squeezed it again but didn’t say much.

“He did good,” Alex finally reported. “He’s hurting a little more right now since we had to poke and maneuver him to get some images. Once the docs take a look at his head we can give him some pain meds and know what you guys can give him at home too. We just need to make sure everything is as okay as we think.”

Victor bit his lip at Alex’s words. Nothing about tonight felt okay. Definitely nothing about how Benji looked right now felt that way.

“Great,” Armando replied. “How long for the results? Because he doesn’t look too good right now.”

Alex sent them a sad smile. “Hopefully pretty soon. I’ll grab some water and meds in a few and bring them. Once we know everything, my guess is the doc will say to make sure you grab some extra strength Tylenol. She should also make the call on what type of wrapping for his knee. If he needs a brace or just a bandage around it. He may want some crutches too…let me go see if we have some options around for him.”

“Thank you,” Armando replied, letting the nurse slip past him to go take care of everything. “How you holding up, kid?” He cautiously squeezed Benji’s ankle through the blanket, making sure not to jar the injured.

“F-fine,” Benji replied shakily.

Armando patted his leg and pulled up a chair beside the bed. “Want to try that again?”

Benji sighed. He removed his arm from his face and let Victor see him. He was obviously in pain and tired. The gash on his forehead had been bandaged. His hands and arms looked cleaned up as well; they had a few bandaids covering some small scrapes and cuts. “Just…really sore and tired.”

Armando nodded. “We’ll get you home soon. Fix up the couch for you and let you sleep some.”

“Yeah,” Victor agreed with a shaky voice. “Felix offered to help you with the stairs. Though not sure you will feel up to dealing with him tonight.” Benji smiled a little at that.

“You called Felix?” Benji asked. He rubbed at this eyes a little again, careful to avoid his bruises and cuts better this time.

“Um, he called me. He was in an Uber with Lake. They, um, saw Brasstown. Sarah had the cops there. It freaked him out so he called to check.”

“Shit,” Benji cursed. “So guess it is all over Creeksecrets?”

“Not yet,” Victor quickly replied. “Lake ran diversion for us. Said there was a robbery tonight and that we were fine so people didn’t freak. I think the only ones who know the truth are Felix, Lake, and Mia. Lake is spending the night with Mia so told her.”

“Awesome,” Benji sighed. “I don’t…I don’t know that I care if people know. But I just…I don’t want to deal with the drama tonight. Though if Mia knows, going to bet Andrew does too.”

“No…wait…really?”

Benji rolled his eyes with a small smile. “You haven’t noticed that?”

“I just, I was giving Mia space. So I didn’t see it.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Are they official now?”

“I don’t know,” Benji replied. He closed his eyes again. “Sorry, I know Mia is a hard subject.”

“You’re fine,” Victor said. He gave Benji’s hand another squeeze. “Not worried about that right now.”

Benji opened his eyes and met Victor’s gaze. “I’m really sorry about all this.”

“You have nothing to apologize for. If anyone does it should be me and—“

“Okay,” Armando interjected. The boys flinched, nearly forgetting that he was there still. “I don’t think either of you have anything to apologize for. So both of you can stop with that.” He gave them a kind but stern look, shifting a little under their shocked stares. “So…Benji, do you want anything from your house tonight?”

“Should be fine for tonight. I really just want to sleep,” he admitted.

Armando nodded. “Hopefully soon.”

The three fell into silence at that as they waited. Victor’s phone pinged with some texts from Sarah, updating him on the police and the whole incident. They had found the footage on the security cameras and taken that as evidence. Between that and the sales receipts, they believed they would be able to trace down the customer without much difficulty. She let them know Benji would have to give a statement to the police but that it could wait til tomorrow afternoon. Given everything. Victor breathed a sigh of relief at that for his boyfriend.

Not long after Sarah’s call ended, the nurses returned to wrap Benji’s knee. The doctor joined and explained Benji’s injuries and assisted.“Well,” Dr. Ross started, “good news is no concussion. You will probably have a headache for awhile but nothing looks too serious on the scans. You lost a decent amount of blood from what we can tell, which is to be expected with head wounds. I’m going to go ahead and have Alex give you some Tylenol to take for now and suggest picking up some more by morning. If the headache gets worse or you start feeling dizzy, come back to the ER or call your primary care physician.” She started gathering some papers and things off to the side. “Here is some care list for what to do for the blood loss…things like foods and drinks that can help his body get back to whereit needs to be.”

Armando took the papers and information from her. “What about his knee and ribs?”

Dr. Ross nodded. “There looked to maybe be a slight crack on the ribs. Nothing I am overly concerned for right now.”

Victor paled at that. _How could that not be concerning…_

“Do you need to wrap them?” Armando asked.

“No…we don’t recommend that for bruised ribs any more. The constriction can feel good for the patient, but it can run the risk of lung infections since you don’t take deep enough breathes. So we won’t do that. We are wrapping up the knee though. That we want to keep pretty stabilized. Again, nothing is broken but I think there is some stretching and maybe tearing on his LCL. It should heal with some rest, elevation, and icing, but we’ll set him up with follow up appointments to keep an eye on things. Sometimes people need surgery to repair it, but I don’t think it should need that. We want to monitor just in case of course.”

Victor felt himself zone out as the doctor continued. Words like tearing and surgery bounced around his head. Benji must have picked up on Victor’s anxiety…he took his hand once more and pulled him over closer. “I’m okay.”

Victor sent him a grateful smile and a soft nod. He wasn’t as convinced, but he wasn’t going to say that just yet to Benji. Instead he focused back on the doctor and the instructions she was providing for him and Armando. It didn’t take much longer for them to finish up everything. Soon the nurses were pulling out the IV and finding crutches for Benji to use and handing off more paperwork for Armando to sign off on. Victor lost track of things and tried his best of just focus on Benji.

Victor helped Benji slide over to the edge of the bed so that he could help him dress. He grabbed the shorts from the chair his father had left them on and slid them up Benji’s thighs. Armando came over and helped take on more of Benji’s weight so they could slip over his hips. Armando untied the hospital gown after, giving them a better look at the now bruising skin at his side. Victor sucked in a sharp breath at the sight.

“It’s really, okay,” Benji tried to comfort.

Victor didn’t try to correct him this time. He instead helped his dad get the spare shirt over Benji’s head and shoulders. Benji looked far from okay once they were done, but it was done.

“I’ll pull the car around,” Armando finally said. “You should text Felix and let him help us into the building.” Victor nodded, pulling out his phone while his dad left. Alex and another nurse, who Victor didn’t catch the name of, helped Benji into a wheelchair and let them gather up everything they needed. They got everything settled, and before Victor knew it, they were all back in the car. Benji looked much like he did earlier, slumped and in pain. He let his boyfriend lay more onto him as they rode home.

When they pulled into Armando’s parking spot, Felix was already waiting on the stairs for them. He jumped up, and for once, was fairly silent. The three managed to help Benji up the stairs and into their building. It wasn’t easy; they had to stop a few times to give Benji a break before climbing the last of the steps. But once they finally reached Armando’s first floor apartment, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Couch?” Felix finally asked once Armando had unlocked the door.

“Please,” Benji exhaled.

Victor tightened his grip and tried to take on more of Benji’s weight as they ushered him forward. They helped him gently fall onto the couch and proceeded to put pillows under his knee and get him situated. Armando ran back outside to grab his crutches and backpack from the car.

“You guys want me to stay?” Felix asked, throwing a blanket over Benji while Victor grabbed some ice packs from his dad’s freezer. For once, Victor was glad Adrian had a tendency to be accident prone and force his parents to keep extra first aid items around in their homes.

“It’s okay,” Victor sighed. “Go get some sleep.”

Felix nodded and pulled Victor in for a hug. “Call if you need anything.”

Victor promised to do so and saw Felix out. He then headed back to the couch to check on Benji. “Hey.”

“Hey,” Benji replied tiredly.

“Can I take off your shoes?”

Benji nodded and shifted with a groan to allow Victor easier access. Armando returned and locked up the apartment. “I think your mom has some Tylenol upstairs. I’ll run up in a minute and check for it. If not, I’ll grab some from the pharmacy down the street. Is there anything else you need? From either place?”

“Um…I think I’m okay,” Benji sighed. He rubbed at his eyes.

“Okay,” Armando stated. “I can run by your place tomorrow and pick up some things if you would like. Or send Felix. Whatever you prefer.”

“Okay. That , um, would be great, actually. Just some clothes.”

“We can figure it out.” Armando grabbed some pillows from the closet. “Let’s just get you set up for tonight.” He helped Victor fix Benji’s knee up on the extra pillows and made sure Benji had enough blankets. “Okay, kid, if you need something, my room is down the hall that way.” He pointed to the left. “Vic is right here.” He pointed at the first door off to the living room. “Bathroom is first door on the left before you get to my room. I’ll leave it open so you know where it is.”

“Thanks, Mr. Salazar.”

Armando smiled softly. “Okay, we’ll let you get some sleep. Vic or I will check in on you in a bit.”

Benji nodded and shifted down under the blankets a little more. Victor squeezed his hand and stood up with his father’s urging. “Let him sleep, flaco.” Armando pushed him toward his bedroom. “Get some sleep yourself.” He pulled Victor in for a hug. “Love you, mijo.”

Victor froze, not remembering the last time he heard that from his dad. “You too,” he managed to reply. He pulled away from the hug and moved into his room. He sighed deeply. He was exhausted. More than he realized. He changed his clothes, moving sluggishly and with less energy at this point in the night. It was already two in the morning. He was dead on his feet. He checked his phone one last time. There was a few texts from Lake and Mia. One from Andrew. He replied to each, letting them know he was home and they were fine. He then noticed a new message from Simon.

_Hey…call me when you get this. Don’t care the time. Just…Nora saw the post about there being a robbery at your work? Are you okay? Bram and I are worried. All of us are. Give me a call._

Victor sighed. He felt like all he had done over the course of the night was sigh. He pulled up Simon’s contact and clicked.

_“Victor!“_

“Hey Simon.”

_“Hey, give me a second. Let me put you on speaker. Bram is beside me. Is that okay?”_

“Um, yeah. That’s fine.” He flopped down on his bed.

_“Okay…we’re both here.”_ Bram greeted him. Victor could hear the worry in his voice. _“What happened?”  
_

“Can, can you guys promise not to tell your sister or anything back home? Not yet at least.” He waited for the other boys to agree. “Okay, well…” He launched into a recount of the events. Everything that had happened since his call with Benji. The assault. The ER trip. His dad. His guilt.

_“Vic…I’m so sorry.”_

“Yeah. Me too, Simon.”

_“You didn’t cause this though.”_

“So everyone keeps saying.” He rubbed at his eyes, feeling tears prickle in the back of them.

_“Because it’s true.”_

“Maybe…”

_“Definitely,”_ both Simon and Bram emphasized.

“It’s just, tonight’s been a lot.”

_“We’re here, Vic. Whatever you need. We’re here to help you. Both of you.”_

They talked a few more minutes before they ended the call. Victor tossed his phone onto the bedside table and climbed under the covers. His mind raced with everything that had happened. Everything that they would have to deal with in the coming days. All that Benji would have to do.

He fell into a fitful sleep. One he didn’t expect to last for very long. Not with Benji just in the other room. Still in pain and hurting. No, tonight was not going to be restful. Victor didn’t imagine any night in the near future would be.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the second to last chapter! Believe there should be an epilogue left and then this story will be put to bed :). I will hopefully return with some others soon. It has been a lot of fun to write these boys. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint!

Victor didn’t sleep. Not really. Instead, he woke up after maybe an hour or two of a fitful, stop and start, kind of sleep. The kind you never feel rested from. The kind where you feel anxious and not able to fully relax into your pillows. The kind that comes with being worried over someone.

In this case…being worried about Benji in the other room.

Victor rolled over and looked at his phone. It was just after three in the morning. There were a few messages from the girls asking how to call them tomorrow with updates. Felix had sent a good night text at some point. Hell, there was even a message from Andrew awkwardly checking in.

He groaned and stared up at the ceiling. He tossed his cell back onto the nightstand, not responding to anyone just yet. He was exhausted, but didn’t think sleep would come again any time soon. He strained to hear noise from the living room, wanting to know if Benji was okay. He laid there trying to hear any sounds of alarm. But nothing came. That almost made it worse.

After a few more minutes, he gave up. He threw off the cover from his bed and stood up. He had to check on Benji; he had to know that his boyfriend was okay. He tried to remain as quiet as possible as he left his bedroom. He was grateful his dad’s room was across the apartment; it at least meant he wasn’t as worried about waking him. He padded into the living room and sighed deeply at the sight of Benji still on the couch.

His boyfriend was laying in the manner they had left him earlier in the night. His knee was propped up on extra pillows. Warm blankets were still wrapped around his thin frame. His hair fanned out against the couch cushions, covering the nasty looking gash Victor knew remained on Benji’s forehead. He looked…well peaceful.

Victor still felt uneasy, even at the sight of Benji laying there. He crossed the room to get a closer look, to appease his anxiety. He crossed the room and sat down gently on the large sectional couch. Despite his attempts to be quiet and careful, Benji stirred next to him. Victor cursed himself for waking his boyfriend.

“Hey,” Benji greeted, his voice groggy from sleep.

“I’m sorry,” Victor quickly sighed. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

Benji pushed himself up with a wince. “Nah, you’re fine. I’ve woken up a few times here and there. Just not a deep sleeper with all this.” He motioned down to his knee and the pillows. “Not a fan of laying on my back like this.”

“Anything I can do?” Victor asked.

Benji bit his lip and nodded. “Um…could you lay with me, maybe? It’s okay if not but—“

“Of course,” Victor interrupted. “Whatever you need.” And he meant it. He didn’t care if his dad was uncomfortable with it. He would deal with that in the morning if it meant Benji slept better. Hell, it would probably mean he slept better himself.

Benji flashed him a grateful smile at that and pulled him toward the other end of the couch, closer to his head. Victor stretched out on the sectional couch so that Benji could lay against him. It took a few minutes to get situated, but Benji sighed in relief once they got comfortable.

“Thank you,” Benji mumbled, letting his head rest against Victor’s chest. “Take it you couldn’t sleep either?”

“Not really,” Victor replied before deflecting back to Benji. “How is this? Is that better? Let me know if I am hurting you or anything. I can move or grab some more pillows or Tylenol or—”

“Yeah, it helps with my ribs. A lot actually. Thank you.”

“Good.” Victor carefully ran his fingers through Benji’s messy hair for a few minutes. The silence should have felt comfortable. Considering he was with Benji, keeping an eye on his injuries. But…the guilt and worry were still there. “I’m really so—“

“If you apologize one more time I may push you off this couch,” Benji teased. He shifted again, biting his lip around what must have been another groan of pain, and looked into Victor’s eyes. “You didn’t do this. Really. And we couldn’t have known someone would. It was a fluke.”

“I just…I can’t help but think I messed up. I shouldn’t have called at work like that.”

Benji shrugged. “Vic, I’ve kissed a guy in that same coffee shop. Taken lots of phone calls, where not only Sarah teases me about it being my boyfriend, but where I say things that pretty much insinuate it is my boyfriend on the line.” He makes sure to hold Victor’s gaze. “And this had never happened before. I just…I got unlucky tonight. We both did. And it really sucks. But is not your fault. Don’t apologize. Not for this.”

Victor held his gaze in return before leaning down and kissing Benji on the lips. He rested their foreheads together “I don’t like seeing you hurt,” he admitted.

“Me neither. With you.” Benji pulled him down for another kiss. “But you didn’t hurt me. You’ve done nothing but take care of me since it happened. Which you didn’t have to do.”

“Of course I did. I love you.” Victor immediately realized what came out of his mouth. His face reddened at the words. The same words he had been thinking for far longer than he cared to admit. Words he had been afraid to say too soon. He cursed himself once again and was grateful the room was still so dark so Benji couldn’t see. “I mean. I—“

Benji cut him off with another kiss. “I love you too,” he added once they pulled apart. “Been wanting to say that for a few weeks now. But didn’t want to rush you. Know all this is new for you.”

Victor sent him a grateful smile. “Thank you.” He wanted to keep talking, but he could see how drained Benji still looked. “Get some more sleep. You look exhausted.”

Benji snorted. “Gee thanks. Tell a guy you love him then remind him he looks awful.”

Victor rolled his eyes. “I don’t think you could ever look awful.” He played with a few strands of Benji’s hair. “But you don’t look like you feel good. You look ready to pass out again. So sleep.”

“Will you stay?” Benji gave him a pleading look.

Victor could tell the night had gotten to him more than he was admitting. But he didn’t pressure him to talk more. No, that would come another time. Once he was more rested and in less pain. Instead, he pulled the blankets up around Benji more and leaned into the cushions. “Not going anywhere.”

Benji sighed and finally closed his eyes once more. It didn’t take long for his breath to even out and for him to succumb to his exhaustion. It took Victor longer. He stayed up for a little longer. He kept an eye on Benji. Watched that his breathing remained even. That his face had relaxed from the pain. That he was still there with him…

As much as Victor expected to not fall asleep, he eventually did, holding Benji close and letting himself believe that they would get through this together.

xxxxxxxxx

Light filtered through the curtains sometime later that morning. It hit Benji’s eyes, causing him to stir and finally awaken with a slight groan. It took him a moment to remember where he was. And for his body to remind him just what had occurred the night before.

He felt something shift under him. He looked up and saw Victor still laying close to him, still fast asleep. He smiled to himself at the sight and let himself relax. The night before had sucked. But he had Victor. That was enough for now.

Well it would be…if his body didn’t have other plans. He sighed, knowing he would have to get up and make his way down to the bathroom soon or risk it. There was no use putting off the inevitable. But he also hated the idea of waking up Victor. He slowly managed to propel himself off of Victor and into a sitting position. His ribs and head protested the movements and stole his breath, but he was upright and Victor was still asleep. He looked around saw that either Victor or his dad had left the borrowed hospital crutches against the other end of the couch. He managed to grab onto them and get them under his arm. It took far longer than he would have liked to push himself up and onto them, but he managed.

Now…to just get down the hall to the bathroom. Crutches were new to him. He understood the principle of them, but he had never properly used them. He slowly started to maneuver around the living room and to the hall. It hurt more than he expected as it put pressure on his bruised ribs. It also required more concentration than he anticipated. For that reason, he shouldn’t have been that shocked that he missed the slight step up from the living room to the hall. He would have surely fallen flat on his face. He fully expected to. But someone grabbed him carefully. It hurt, but not as much as hitting the ground would have.

“I’ve got you,” a deep voice soothed behind him. Benji had his eyes closed and was working on steadying his breathing and pain. “Are you okay?”

Benji took another breath and nodded. He opened his eyes to see Victor’s dad beside him. He still had his hands on him, keeping him steady and upright. “Yeah…I didn’t see the step.”

“I’m sorry,” Armando said. “Bathroom? Is that where you were heading.” Benji nodded. “Okay, how about I help you?” Benji sighed and nodded once more. Armando helped support him as he made his way to the bathroom. They paused at the door. “I’ll wait here on you.”

“Um, thanks.” Benji shuffled into the bathroom on his own. He stole a glance in the mirror once inside and winced at his reflection. He had dark, bruise like circles under his eyes while his forehead sported a purpling bruise around the gauze pad. He leaned against the sink and lifted his shift up; similar marks mottled his side. He didn’t want to know what the bandage around his knee hid.

He quickly used the bathroom and washed his hands, trying to push away those thoughts. He inched out of the room, only to find Mr. Salazar where he said he would be. Benji had been, well, surprised by his boyfriend’s father in the past twelve hours.

“How are you holding up?” Armando prodded. He helped take on some of Benji’s weight as he moved into the hallway.

“”I’m fine,” Benji initially said. It earned a warning look from Armando, one Victor had given him a lot since yesterday. “Okay…everything hurts but it could be worse,” he tried instead.

“Do you want the couch again to sleep more?”

“Um, no, I think I’m up for right now.” Benji paused as they approached the living room. “And, uh, I don’t really want to wake up Victor.” Armando followed his gaze to the couch, noticing his son still fast asleep.

“You guys slept together last night?” Armando’s face colored at his choice of words. “I mean…”

Benji bit his lip nervously. “He couldn’t sleep so came out to check on me. Neither of us were really sleeping well. So…”

Armando nodded and changed the subject. “Kitchen then? We can prop your leg up some and get you off your feet. And start breakfast. Victor will sleep. He’s used to Pilar blasting Nirvana and who knows what else at all hours of the night from her bedroom.”

“Kitchen would be great.” Benji sent Armando a hesitant smile and allowed the man to help him toward the kitchen. It was on the opposite end of the apartment and partially blocked from the living room by a wall. He slumped down into the closet chair at the small dining table. Armando moved away for a moment and returned with one of the discarded pillows from the couch. He carefully lifted Benji’s leg and got it situated on a second chair. “Thanks.”

Armando nodded in return. “Victor’s still sleeping. My guess is he will be for little longer. I’ll start on some food for you boys. Any requests?”

Benji rubbed at his eyes tiredly. “Coffee?”

Armando huffed a small laugh at that. “I believe the doctor wants you to eat and drink things that help with blood loss. You know. Things with vitamins and iron, and that stuff. Not sure caffeine factors into that.” Benji must have given a dejected look at that, because despite his words, Armando walked around to turn on the coffee maker and pull down three mugs from the cabinets. He grabbed a jug of orange juice and another glass while the coffee started to brew. “Drink this first and then we will talk coffee.”

Benji took the orange juice and drank a few tentative sips. “Thanks.” He chewed on his lips for a minute. “Um, for all this. I know…I know this isn’t how you two had planned to spend your weekend.” Benji stared down at the table.

Armando came around and sat across from him. “Well, I can’t say this is what I expected for the weekend, but I have to admit I didn’t really have plans. I…I know I haven’t been the best lately with, Vic. I wanted to try to make up for it some. To talk to him.” Benji looked up and sent him an encouraging nod. “And, well, we did. Or at least started to. While we waited in the ER.”

“That’s, um, good,” Benji replied, uncertain of how to manage this conversation.

“I know I still need to work on things.” Armando ran a hand nervously through his hair. “But I’m learning. I hope. And I hope he will let me.”

Benji wasn’t sure if he should respond, but ultimately chose to speak up. “He loves you. A lot. Family means a lot to him. I mean, that’s why he didn’t want to come out. Why he was so worried about it all.” Armando sat up straighten and nodded for him to continue. “He wants a relationship with you. All of you.”

“And with you,” Armando added. “He cares for you a lot.”

Benji felt himself blush. “I really, care too.” He took a deep breath, not expecting the next part to go well considering. “I love him. He…he makes me feel good about myself. He makes me feel comfortable.” He steeled himself as he met Armando’s eyes. “In a way no one else does.”

Armando nodded and rubbed his beard. “It sounds like something special.”

Benji didn’t know what to do with Armando’s words. Again, he didn’t look overly comfortable. But he wasn’t being cruel or rejected. “I think it is.”

Armando sighed. “Um, Victor told me a little about how thing were for you. Before…” he motioned with his hands rather than say the words.

“Oh.” Benji looked away. “I guess he told you about the night I wrecked?”

“He did.”

“I don’t…I wouldn’t do that again.” He hated talking about that night.

“Good,” Armando sighed. “I don’t want that for my son. For either of you.” Benji finally met his eyes. “So…how do you take your coffee?”

“Oh, just milk or cream. Whichever. I’m not too picky.”

Armando chuckled. “Very different from Victor. I swear he uses more sugar than coffee in his cup.”

“Yeah,” Benji laughed. “I’ve noticed at the shop.”

“Finish that juice and I’ll fix your cup.” Armando stood up from the table. “Eggs and bacon okay for breakfast? I may have some vegetables or avocados around too.”

“That works.” Benji finished the juice. “Whatever’s fine.”  
  
“Did you have dinner yesterday?” Benji tried not to laugh at how much Armando sounded like the worried dad with that statement.

“We’re allowed to take something out of the counter during our shifts at Brasstown. Get that and black coffee for free during breaks if we want. So I grabbed something. I was planning to order takeout once I got home but…”

“So you really haven’t eaten since yesterday afternoon?”

“I guess not.”

“Then let’s fix that.” Armando set his cup of coffee down in front of him and started pulling out eggs and bacon from the fridge. Benji relished the feel of caffeine hitting his system. He was still so tired. He must have zoned out as Armando started to cook. He jumped when Armando set down a bottle of Tylenol on the table. “I’m going to bet you will need that this morning.”

Benji was already hurting so didn’t argue. He took a couple pills out and downed it with the last of his juice. Armando squeezed his shoulder and returned to cooking. The apartment started to smell like frying bacon and strong coffee. So much so that it must have woken Victor in the other room.

“Benji?” the other boy called in a panic. There was a thumping noise followed by a few curses before Benji could reply.

“Kitchen!” He just hoped Victor hadn’t hurt himself when he seemingly fell off the couch.

Victor all but ran into the room. He skid to a halt when he saw Benji sitting up at the table and his father cooking.

“There is coffee,” Armando greeted.

“Thanks, papi.” Victor skipped the coffee in favor of sitting down next to Benji. “How are you this morning?”

“I’m okay,” he replied around a yawn. “Sore but just took some more meds.”

“We’ll ice that knee after breakfast,” Armando added. “Vic, care to cut up some vegetables for me?”

“Um, sure.” He looked reluctant to get up from the table.Benji mouthed ‘I’m okay’ to him in encouragement. Victor nodded and got up to help his dad. They made quick work of the food and Armando starting putting everything together. He pushed Victor back toward Benji with a soft smile.

“Did you sleep okay?” Benji asked as he returned to his chair. He nudged the chair for Victor to scoot closer to him.

“Yeah, couch was better.” He looked up to see if his dad would react to it. He didn’t. “You? How are you doing this morning? Do you need more ice or anything? I can-“

“Mijo,” Armando chastised softly. “One question at a time for the poor guy.” He turned around and set down some plates of food for them. He ran a hand over Victor’s head affectionately.

“You’re fine, Vic,” Benji soothed. “I slept okay. I’m sore this morning but the Tylenol should kick in soon.” He yawned again. “And apparently still tired.”

“Blood loss will do that. Which is why you should be drinking more juice than coffee,” Armando added. He picked up Benji’s empty glass and refilled it. He nudged him to drink more. “And probably eat too. Feel up to that?”

“Yeah. I’m fine. Really.” He rubbed at his eyes.

“You look tired,” Victor commented with the worry obvious in his voice. Victor put food on a plate and laid it in front of Benji.

Benji sighed and picked up his fork. “Yeah, I was okay when I woke up but yeah. I’m kind of tired now.”

“Eat and then you boys can go lay back down,” Armando said. He took his seat and fixed his own plate. He nudged Victor to eat as well. He shifted in his seat. “Um, if you two want, it may be more comfortable in your room, Vic. Over the couch. Just…you know.” He started eating, starting down at his plate intensely.

“Definitely,” Victor all but squeaked. “I mean, yeah. That would probably be better. For Benji. With his knee and ribs.”

Benji nearly choked, trying not to laugh at his boyfriend and his dad. “Thanks, Mr. Salazar. Couch wasn’t awful, but yeah it kind of made my ribs ache last night. But not sure I could have made it down the hall without passing out last night.”

Armando nodded. “You can call me Armando. You don’t have to do the whole mister thing.”

Victor sent his dad a grateful smile. Benji did the same and thanked him for the offer.

The boys sat and ate. The conversation wasn’t the smoothest, but it wasn’t difficult either. Armando asked some questions of Benji. Questions about his music interest. The job at Brasstown. Even some cautious family inquiries. It was….mostly nice.

“Victor,” Armando started clearing the plates, “why don’t you grab some ice. I grabbed some extra supplies from your mother’s. It should be in the freezer for you. Take those and go ahead and get some more rest.”

The boys both thanked his dad. Victor stood up and grabbed the supplies. He took them back to his room before returning for Benji. “Do you want to use the crutches? Or me?”

Benji painfully moved his knee off the chair beside him. “Maybe both.” He groaned and took a pained breath as his foot settled on the ground. “I’m not great with crutches yet.”

“Need another set of hands?” Armando asked.

“I can do it,” Victor replied, already helping Benji up. It was slow, but the boys managed to get to Victor’s room without much fanfare or difficulties. “It’s not much yet.” Victor gestured around the room as Benji sat down on the bed. “I really haven’t been here a whole lot yet.”

“It’s not bad.” Benji pushed himself back on the bed. His face scrunched up in pain as he moved. “I don’t know that I could have done the stairs to yours. Maybe in a couple days. But not right now.”

Victor closed the door and crossed the room to help his boyfriend. He helped Benji lay down on the far side of the bed. He grabbed the ice packs and some pillows. He helped settle them on the injured knee.

Benji grabbed Victor’s hand as he finished and pulled him toward the bed. “Lay down with me. I know you’re tired too.” He ran his thumb over Victor’s knuckles. “And we slept better together.”

Victor smiled at the reminder. “Apparently so. I like sleeping with you.” Victor blushed after the words left his mouth, earning a chuckle from Benji.

“Not quite up for that just yet.”

Victor laughed himself and crawled under the blankets beside him. “I hate that you don’t feel well.”

“I’ll be okay.” Benji shuffled slightly so that he was largely resting against Victor. “This is helping.”

“It is?”

Benji nodded against Victor’s chest. “A lot.”

Victor started carding his hand through Benji’s hair. “Good. I’m not going anywhere.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...here is the last chapter. I was going to wait to post in a few days, but wanted to go ahead and get this up. The response has been awesome from all of you and it has been so nice to return to writing, and to start out with this fandom. I have more ideas in mind...so please let me know if interested. I have an idea with Pilar and Benji possibly (if my tone with her is okay in this chapter). But overall, thank you again for all the feedback and interest.

The first couple days were rougher than Benji wanted to admit. He hurt. His ribs stole his breath more often than not. His knee ached when he moved around too much. And his head, despite not having a concussion, still protested too strong of light or noises. But he was healing. Slowly but surely. And Victor had been there every step of the way.

Actually, the whole Salazar family had been. Isabel had returned with Pilar and Adrian two days later on Sunday. She immediately started fretting and fawning over Benji. Adrian kept suggesting that ice cream would help make him feel better (both Benji and Victor were convinced Adrian just wanted extra of the treat in the house for himself). Pilar had lent him extra blankets and pillows from her room. And Armando had managed to borrow the keys for the service elevator so Benji could go up to Victor’s apartment. Not that Armando’s hadn’t been good…but it was more comfortable being in Victor’s normal space. And Isabel was a better cook…

It was nice to stay with Victor’s family. Benji’s parents were still down in Florida with no clear idea when they would be returning. His aunt’s health wasn’t good and they were trying to help. His father remained awkward during their calls, but his mother seemed to feel bad about not returning.

“Mom I’m fine,” Benji sighed into the phone. He was laying on Victor’s bed. Talking to his parents was already giving him a headache.

_“I should—“_

“Mom, we’ve been over this already. You said Anne was doing worse and needed the extra help. You had this planned for awhile. It’s fine.” He rubbed at his eyes as she talked, wishing this conversation didn’t happen every few days. “Mrs. Salazar said I could stay as long as I needed. And I’m really feeling a lot better than what I was.” _Mostly…_

Victor came into the room at that moment. He gave Benji a look before crossing the room and joining him on the bed.

_“I just worry,”_ his mother sighed.

“I know. But it’s really okay. Just take care of Aunt Anne and let it go. Please.” Victor took his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Look, mom, Victor just came back from work so I gotta go.”

“Okay…just call if you need us. Love you sweetie.”

“Love you too, mom. Give Anne a hug from me.” He hung up the phone and slumped back against the bed.

“Hey,” Victor greeted, rubbling his thumb over the back of Benji’s hand. “Your mom?”

“Yeah,” Benji huffed. “She feels bad about not offering to come back sooner. Which is fine. But I don’t really want to deal with them yet.” He shrugged. “That probably sounds bad.”

“Not at all,” Victor quickly replied. “You’ve had a lot on your plate the last week.”

Benji shrugged again. “I don’t know about that. I’ve kind of just laid around.” He gestured out to the bed.

Victor rolled his eyes. “You’re healing after being hurt pretty bad.” Victor stretched out beside Benji. The other boy let his head rest on his shoulder after he did so. “I think that means you’re allowed to take it easy and rest. Especially after having to go to the doctor yesterday.”

Benji glanced down at his knee and the new brace around it. The doctor has changed from the ace bandage to a soft brace instead for additional support. The bruising underneath had been pretty shocking, but thankfully the doctor believed he could avoid a surgery if he continued to follow instructions and take it easy.

“How was work?” Benji asked, changing the subject.

“Fine…weird without you around. Sarah was…odd.”

“More than normal?” Benji scoffed.

“Yeah.” Victor bit his lip. “I think she was worried about me coming back after everything. About how I would be. How you will be.”

“Ah.” Benji sat back up so he could look at Victor as he talked. “So? How was being back?”

“Fine,” Victor said a little too quickly.

“I call bullshit so…”

“Okay okay.” Victor held his hands up in surrender. “It wasn’t easy at first. I was nervous and tense a lot at first. But customers seemed to have noticed that you have been gone and were really nice to me. And Sarah was actually good. She stayed out front the whole shift and has hired on a few extra workers to cover for you and to give me a lighter schedule. She was being nice. I think she is actually worried about us.”

“She’s not too awful,” Benji laughed. “I’m glad it wasn’t as bad as you expected. Know you have been nervous about going back so soon.”

Victor nodded and chewed on his lower lip for a moment. “I think I’m more worried about you going back.”

Benji had been expecting that. He knew Victor was worried for him. Afraid of something else happening to him. “Well, it will be awhile before I’m back full time from what the doctor said yesterday. Given my knee. But it’ll be fine when I do go back. Sarah sounds like she is taking this seriously and will probably be around a lot for now. So doubt she will have me close alone any time soon. And it will be fine when I do have to. Promise.” He nudged Victor’s shoulder with his own.

“You can’t promise that…”

“No…but we can’t assume the worst will happen every time either.” Benji squeezed his hand. “There is always the potential of people being an asshole about us. But that doesn’t mean I can just assume that from everyone. I don’t think that will work for me.”

“I know. Logically I know that. But…”

“You’re worried. I get that. I can’t say I’d be any better if this was reversed. But we’ll figure it out.” Benji leaned over and gave Victor a kiss. Victor’s hand came up to the back of Benji’s head, pulling him in closer. They got lost in the moment. So lost they didn’t hear the door open and Pilar come in at first.

“Can you stop eating your boyfriend’s face and come help me with mom?” Pilar faked a gag as the boys pulled apart. They could tell she was teasing as she was not doing a good job at hiding her amusement or smile at them.

“What’s mom doing?” Victor sighed.

“She thinks I should practice for my audition for you, Benji, and won’t stop suggesting songs and is driving me insane.” Pilar sent them a glare. “Can you please come out so I don’t have to deal with her? Like now?”

Victor let his head fall back against the wall. “Come on. It can’t be that bad.”

“She’s suggesting 80’s love ballads. For me.” Pilar gestured down to her Billie Eilish tee and plaid pants. “What about me says I want to sing that shit?”

Benji laughed while Victor just sighed again at his sister. “Pilar…”

“Please,” she all but begged. “I can’t listen to one more Journey song. I don’t have it in me. She has Papi in on it too and I can’t take their duets. He can’t sing Victor. At all. It’s bad.”

Benji bit his lip to stop from laughing harder at her. “Okay, how about you two help me into the living room and you can get the audition out of the way. With whatever song you want.”

“What?” she snapped back. “That doesn’t sound better. That means having everyone watch me!”

Benji quirked an eyebrow at her. “Won’t you have everyone watching you on stage anyway once you join the band?”

Victor sent his sister a smirk at the interaction. It was obvious he was enjoying watching the banter.

“Fine,” she all but groaned. “Whatever. But I get to pick what I want to play. And you have to play too.” She grabbed his guitar from where Victor had left it beside the desk. Victor and Felix had raided his bedroom a few days before, bringing clothes and his guitar case back with them. He wasn’t sure how long he would end up staying, and they insisted he would miss having it with him.

“Don’t break that,” he warned Pilar. He scooted toward the edge of the bed, still wincing a little as he jarred his ribs and knee. “Give me a minute and I’ll come out.”

She nodded, looking a little guilty as she saw him in pain again. “Take your time.” Her voice had softened. “Make him help you.” She pointed at Victor and nervously shifted. “And me if you need.”

“I’ve got it.” Benji’s voice sounded a little more strained than he wanted but he could do this. He got to the edge of the bed and let Victor help him stand. He leaned against his boyfriend while he adjusted to being upright. He then took the crutches from where he had left them against the bed and got himself settled. “Lead the way,” he instructed Pilar.

They slowly made their way out to the main living quarters of the apartment. They could hear Isabel playing music and Armando humming along. It seemed like Victor’s parents had been doing okay the past couple days. Armando had been visiting, checking on the boys and the other kids quite frequently during that time. They seemed to be taking things slowly and trying to give each other some space.

“Oh, Pilar!” Isabel called as she saw her daughter enter. “What about this song? You would sound so good and —oh hello boys. Armando, grab a chair for Benji.”

Benji sent Armando a smile and a silent thanks as he snagged a nearby barstool for him.

“Pilar’s going to get her audition out of the way now I think,” Victor said, trying to keep the peace between his sister and mother. “Benji offered to go ahead and do it with her.”

“Here.” Pilar thrust the guitar at Benji for him to take. To anyone else, it would have seemed callous, but Benji and Victor could tell she was anxious to perform.

“Thanks.” Benji took his instrument and situated himself so that he wasn’t putting pressure on his bad knee. “So…what do you want to perform?” He started to tune his guitar and strummed a few chords to get the feel of it back in his hands.

“Oh…” Pilar shifted nervously again. “Um, well, you probably don’t know anything cool.”

Benji rolled his eyes at her. “What’s cool to you?”

“Well, you probably don’t like anything good. You probably don’t even know Nirvana.”

Benji took a steadying breath and played the opening chords of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” to prove her wrong. He smirked at her obvious shock. “I like a little of everything. And we play a variety of covers. Sometimes original stuff if we have it.” He stopped playing. “But I don’t know that I could the scream-singing part of that today. Not with my ribs and head right now. So maybe something a little softer?” He gestured to her shirt. “Know any of her songs on the piano?”

“Of course,” Pilar huffed. Victor ran a hand over his face at his sister’s abrasive responses. He could tell his parents wanted to chastise her, but Benji was managing her pretty well on his own, much to all their shock.

“Cool. Want to give me some options then?” Benji played a few chords that sounded like “Bad Guy” as he waited. Pilar gaped at him as he effortlessly played the song and waited her out.

“Um…how about “Everything I Wanted?” Since it’s one that Finneas sings on too. You could take his part.”

“Works for me.” Benji sat up a little and let her get settled at the piano. Isabel joined Armando off to the side to watch. Victor stayed near Benji, unsure I he would need support or help himself.

Pilar started to play and Benji joined in. The two sounded good together. And once they hit the chorus, their voices blended nicely. Victor was impressed at his sister. And for once, she seemed relaxed despite the attention being on her. As they finished, Isabel was the first to clap. She started talking a mile a minute, praising her daughter and pulling Armando into it. With their attention on Pilar, Victor turned his to Benji.

“You were great.”

Benji set the guitar down and smiled up at him. “Not my best given everything but it will get there. Your sister’s good.” Benji pulled Victor closer.

Victor let himself get close to Benji. He even leaned in for a cautious kiss, hoping his parents wouldn’t freak on him. The boys just relished being together for a moment. A normal moment without all the stress of the past couple of days.

“Victor!” PIlar snapped. “Can you stop kissing your boyfriend so I can find out if I’m in his band?”

Victor felt Benji smile against his lips and broke the kiss. Armando looked uneasy but not like before. Isabel was still focused on his sister. And Pilar, well she looked kind of happy for once.

“I think you’re in,” Benji replied. “We’ll have to play with the rest of the guys to make sure they are cool with it. But they should like you. You’re good.”

Pilar kept talking to Benji about the band. Their parents were talking amongst themselves about the performance. Victor just stood there taking it in. A lot had happened int he last week. Some things he wished had never happened.

Benji grabbed his hand as he kept talking about the band with Pilar. Victor let him.

Despite it all, they were good. They would get through this. Together.


End file.
